3H» 

ILLUSTRATED   BIOGRAPHIES  OF 
THE    GREAT  ARTISTS 


DON   DIEGO  RODRIGUEZ 
DE  SILVA  Y  VELAZQ.UEZ 


ILLUSTRATED   BIOGRAPHIES  OF 
THE  GREAT  ARTISTS. 


The  following  volumes,  each  illustrated  with  from  14  to  20  Engravings, 
are  now  ready,  price  3i-.  bd.  : — 

ITALIAN,  &^c. 

GIOTTO.     By  Harry  Quilter,  M.A.,  Trinity  Coll.,  Cambridge. 
FRA  ANGELICO.    By  Catherine  Mary  Phillimore. 
FRA  BARTOLOMMEO.    By  Leader  Scott. 
LEONARDO  DA  VINCL    By  Dr.  J.  Paul  Richter. 
MICHELANGELO.    By  Charles  Clement. 
RAPHAEL.    From  J.  D.  Passavant.    By  N.  D'Anvers. 
TITIAN.    By  Richard  Ford  Heath,  M.A.  Oxford. 
TINTORETTO.    By  W.  Roscoe  Osler.    From  researches  at  Venice, 
VELAZQUEZ.    By  Edwin  Stovve,  B.A.  Oxford. 
VERNET  and  DELAROCHE.    By  J.  Ruutz  Rees. 

TEUTONIC. 

ALBRECHT  DURER.    By  R.  F.  Heath,  M.A.  ^Nearly  ready. 

HOLBEIN.    From  Dr.  A,  Woltmann.    By  Joseph  Cundall. 
THE  LITTLE  MASTERS  OF  GERMANY.    By  W.  B.  Scott. 
REMBRANDT.    From  Charles  Vosmaer.    By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A. 
RUBENS.    By  C.  W.  Rett,  M.A.  Oxford. 

VAN  DYCK  and  HALS.    By  Percy  R.  Head,  Lincoln  Coll.,  Oxford. 
FIGURE  PAINTERS  of  HOLLAND.  By  Lord  Ronald  Gower,  F.S.A. 

ENGLISH. 
HOGARTH.    By  Austin  Dobson. 
REYNOLDS.    By  F.  S.  Pulling,  M.A.  Oxford. 
GAINSBOROUGH.    By  G.  M.  Brock-Arnold,  M.A.  Oxford. 
TURNER.    By  W.  Cosmo  Monkhouse. 

WILKIE.    By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.,  Brasenose  College,  Oxford. 
LANDSEER.    By  Frederic  G.  Stephens. 

The  following  volumes  are  in  preparation  : — 
VAN  EYCK  and  MEMLING.    By  Mrs.  Charles  Heaton. 
CORNELIUS  and  OVERBECK.    By  J.  Beavington  Atkinson. 
CORREGGIO  and  PAOLO  VERONESE.    By  M.  Compton  Heaton. 
MANTEGNA  and  FRANCIA.    By  Julia  Cartwright. 


Digitized 

1  by  the  Internel 

[  Archi 

i 

in  2014 

https://archive.org/details/velazquezOOstow 


DIEGO  VELAZQUEZ  DE  SMAA 
l''o>it  a  Miniature. 


The  7vhole  world  without  Art  7vould  be  one  great  wilderness.'^ 


V  E  L  A  Z  Q  U  E  Z 


BY 

EDWIN    STOWE,  B.A. 

FORMERLY    SCHOLAR    AND    EXHIBITIONER  OF 
BRASENOSE    COLLEGE,  OXFORD 


NEW  YORK 
SCRIBNER   AND  WELFORD 

LONDON 

SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON,  SEARLE,  &  RIVINGTON 

i88i 


{^All  rights  reserved.^ 


London:  R.  Clay,  Sons,  and  Taylor, 
bread  street  hill,  e.c, 


THE  GEHY  CENTER 
LIBRARY 


PEEFACE. 


HE  names  of  two  authors,  now  beyond  the  reach  of 


JL  human  praise,  men  of  distinguished  talents  and  wide 
and  varied  cultivation,  must  ever  be  associated  with  our 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  Spanish  Art.  Unaided  by  the 
labours  of  Richard  Ford  and  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell  the 
attempt  at  compiling  even  these  slender  pages  would  have 
proved  a  task  scarcely  practicable.  That  task  has  been  also 
greatly  lightened  by  recourse  to  the  valuable  information 
that  has  rewarded  the  careful  and  laborious  researches  of 
Don  Pedro  de  Madrazo  of  Madrid. 

A  Catalogue  of  the  painter's  works,  based  upon  M.  Burger's 
list  (which  seems  for  the  most  part  to  have  been  taken  from 
Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell's)  and  augmented  from  the  official 
catalogues  of  the  public  galleries  of  Europe,  will  be  found  at 
the  end  of  the  book.  It  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  exhaustive, 
although  no  masterpiece  or  important  work  of  Yelazquez 
of  which  the  compiler  has  been  able  to  ascertain  the  present 
locality  has  been  omitted. 

The  object  that  has  been  kept  in  view  in  its  preparation 
has  been  the  facilitating  the  practical  study  of  the  works 


vi 


PREFACE. 


of  this  great  master.  Tt  has  been  thought  useful  for  this 
purpose  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  principal  engravings,  by 
the  study  of  which  a  general  idea  can  be  formed  of  the 
character  of  his  most  important  productions ;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  other  details  given  will  also  be  found  of  value. 
They  are  rendered  especially  necessary  by  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  Velazquez's  work  as  a  Court  Painter.  When 
it  is  considered  that  he  painted  his  Royal  Master  not  less 
than  twenty-eight  or  thirty  times,  and  that  about  the  same 
number  of  works  have  to  be  shared  between  the  young 
Prince  and  the  King's  Chief  Minister,  it  will  be  seen  how 
useless  the  repetition  of  the  mere  barren  titles  of  such 
pictures  would  have  proved. 

E.  S. 


April,  1881. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGK 


Introduction  •    .    .    .  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Court  of  Spain — Philip  IV. — Isabel  de  Bourbon — Don  Carlos 
and  Don  Ferdinand — Dona  Maria  and  Prince  Charles  of 
England — Duke  of  Olivarez — Lope  de  Vega — The  Pretendiente  .  9 

CHAPTER  III. 

1623—1629,  At  Madrid— Portrait  of  Fonseca— The  Fiesta  Real— 
The  King's  Portrait— Sketch  of  Prince  Charles — Made  Painter 
to  the  Court — The  Competition— Made  Usher  of  the  Chamber 
—"The  Water-Carrier "— " The  Topers  "  21 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1629 — 1631.    First  Italian  Journey — Arrival  at  Venice — Ferrara — 

Rome — Naples  41 

CHAPTER  V. 

1631—1648.  Back  at  Madrid — Further  favours  from  the  King — 
His  Own  Portrait —Marriage  of  his  Daughter  Francisca — His 
Family — Made  Chamberlain — The  King's  Portrait — Murillo — 
At  Aranjuez  48 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1648—1659.  Second  Italian  Journey — Arrival  at  Genoa — Naples 
— Rome — Portrait  of  Innocent  X. — Back  in  Spain — Made 
Aposentador  Mayor — Las  Hilanderas  " — "  Las  Meninas  "  .    .  59 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Velazquez  as  an  Artist  68 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
1659 — 1660.    The  Last  Journey —Mission  of  the  Duke  of  Gramraont 
— The  Royal  Progress — The  Meeting  in  the  Isle  of  Pheasants — 
The  Royal  Wedding— Return  to  Madrid— Death— Burial.    .    .  78 

Appendix  94 

The  Principal  Works  of  Velazquez  97 

ChronoloCxY,  115 

Index  c.ll6 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTEATIONS. 


PAGE 

Portrait  of  Velazquez.    From  a  Miniature  formerly  in}        x-  • 

f  -frontispiece. 

the  possession  of  the  Late  Sir  William  Stirliny- Max  well  J 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery  7 

Don  Ferdinand  of  Austria.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery   9 

Isabel  de  Bourbon,  Queen  of  Spain   13 

The  Duke  of  Olivarez.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery   17 

The  Water-Carrier.    In  the  possession  of  the  Buke  of  Wellington     .    .  23 

A  Meeting  op  Artists.   In  the  Louvre     31 

The  Topers.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery   39 

View  of  the  Villa  Medici.    In  the  Madrid  Gallery   45 

JuANA  Pacheco,  Wife  of  Velazquez.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery     ,    .  53 

The  Surrender  of  Breda.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery   59 

The  Maids  of  Honour.   In  the  Madrid  Gallery   65 

Portrait  of  a  Dwarf.   I7i  the  Madrid  Gallery   79 

Dona  Anton  ia,  Daughter  of  Don  Luis  de  Haro     .......  83 

The  Laughing  Idiot.   In  the  Belvedere,  Vienna   91 


VELAZCIUEZ 


CHAPTEE  I. 

INTRODUCTION  FROM  SEVILLE  TO  MADRID. 

IT  is  spring-time  of  the  year  1623.  North  and  south  the 
world,  roused  from  its  winter  lethargy,  yields  itself  a  willing 
victim  to  the  sweet  and  subtle  influences.  On  every  side  there  is 
something  of  stir,  and  life,  and  motion. 

Away  in  Spain,  beside  a  well-known  dwelling  in  the  far-off 
city  of  Seville,  there  stand — scarcely  discernible  in  the  darkness 
of  early  morning,  ere  yet  the  first  faint  streaks  of  dawn  begin  to 
light  the  eastern  horizon — a  couple  of  mules,  tended  by  a  solitary 
domestic.  They  are  already  caparisoned,  and  the  attendant  is 
busy  tightening  a  strap  here,  lengthening  a  rein  there,  to  wile 
away  the  time  till  the  owners  appear.  Anon  footsteps  are 
heard  crossing  the  marble  pavement  of  the  patio,  and  from  a 
lamp  set  down  within  yon  distant  doorway  a  faint  glimmer 
streams.  By  its  light  can  be  seen  the  outline  of  three  dark 
forms  entering  the  vestibule  together.  One  of  them  is  the 
figure  of  a  graceful  woman,  who,  not  without  a  rising  tear,  bids 
fond  and  tender  adieux  to  those  by  whom  she  is  accompanied. 
The  gateway  of  open  ironwork,  that  gives  access  to  the  street 

V  B 


2 


VELAZQUEZ. 


itself,  is  unlocked  and  thrown  back,  and  the  two  expected 
travellers  issue  forth  fully  equipped  for  the  journey.  It  is  a 
journey  that  shall  not  lack  permanent  and  important  results. 

They  mount  their  sober-minded  and  trusty-footed  beasts,  and — 
flinging  back  a  hasty  "  hasta  la  vista,  carissima,"  to  the  form 
that  still  peers  out,  as  though  loath  to  lose  the  last  glimpse  of 
them — pass  onward  down  the  street.  Winding  through  intri- 
cacies of  narrow  byeways,  they  at  length  enter  on  a  more  open 
space  whence  rises  high  into  heaven  the  stately  Moorish  tower 
of  the  Giralda.  Here,  albeit  that  its  columns  and  long  retreat- 
ing aisles  are  still  wrapt  in  the  mysterious  gloom  of  nocturnal 
shade,  they  would  fain  enter  the  sacred  walls  of  the  well-known 
cathedral  itself ;  but  the  guardians  are  yet  slumbering,  and  every 
portal  stiil  securely  closed.  Yet  they  will  not  pass  it  by  without 
low  murmured  Ave  and  Pater  ISToster,  commending  their  souls 
and  the  business  they  have  in  hand  to  the  watchful  care  of  God. 

Again  they  dive  into  a  labyrinth  of  streets,  and  pass  onward 
in  the  silence.  By  many  a  gateway  of  open  tracery  of  delicately- 
wrought  metal-work,  through  which  there  floats  out  upon  the 
morning  air  the  sweet  odour  of  the  blossoming  plants  within,  and 
the  dulcet  music  of  the  plashing  fountains ;  past  lines  of  walls 
secluding  so  jealously  and  so  carefully  deep-embowered  bosky 
garden  thickets  and  parterres  gay  with  masses  of  rose-blooms 
and  carnations  ;  by  open  squares,  tree-begirt  and  marble-seated ; 
through  winding  lanes  of  meaner  dwellings,  which,  were  the  sun 
high  in  heaven,  would  be  dazzling  with  the  hot  gleam  and  glare 
of  their  wdiite-washed  fronts  ;  ever  onward,  till  the  line  of  houses 
on  this  side  and  on  that  abruptly  terminates,  and  the  city  is  left 
behind. 

Out  into  the  realms  of  a  true  Eden  of  the  South.  The  air  is 
redolent  of  perfume.  Above,  the  purple  sky  of  the  southern  night 
is  fading  into  paler  tones.  To  the  right  and  to  the  left  spread 
in  the  richest  profusion  garden  groves  of  orange  and  of  pome- 
granate ;  here  hanging  in  very  truth  amid  their  dew-laden  foliage, 
"  Golden  lamps  in  a  green  night ; " 


INTRODUCTION. 


3 


there  softening  the  blazing  crimson  of  their  mid-day  splendour 
into  a  faint  roseate  promise.  Beyond  is  seen  the  gleam  of  waters, 
the  broad  bosom  of  the  shining  Guadalquivir,  and  further  still 
the  indistinct  outline  of  the  rising  slopes  mingles  afar  with  the 
yet  unillumined  sky. 

The  road  runs  on  till  an  outer  belt  of  country  is  reached, 
where  gardens,  and  corn-lands,  and  olive-groves  ring  the  changes 
of  mutual  alternation,  this  too  fading  off  presently  into  a  less 
cultivated  district.  Onward  our  travellers  journey  over  their 
first  stage  of  Spanish  leagues.  Gradually  light  begins  to  break, 
and  the  broad  plains  of  the  landscape  open  out  to  view.  In 
front,  in  the  distance,  can  be  already  descried  the  point  where 
they  mean  presently  to  halt,  and,  early  as  it  is,  the  road  is  now 
no  longer  left  to  them  alone.  From  time  to  time  they  encounter 
little  caravans  of  the  tribes  of  busy  Alcala,  leading  their  mules, 
some  singly,  some  in  longer  trains,  bearing  freight  of  daily 
provision  for  the  slumbering  city. 

The  light  waxes  yet  more  clear.  Let  us  examine  more  closely  ^ 
the  faces  of  our  mule-riders.  The  elder  is  a  man  of  some  fifty 
years  of  age,  dark  of  complexion,  and  darker  still  of  eye,  a  true 
son  of  Andalucia.  There  is  no  want  of  animation  or  of  refine- 
ment about  the  hale  and  honest  countenance  that  looms  upon  us 
from  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  broad  sombrero,  yet  a  closer 
inspection  may  trace  there  something  of  a  lack  of  self-assertion, 
something  of  an  over-readiness  to  yield  to  fear,  the  mark  left  by 
a  terror-instilling  religionism  on  an  existence  that  has  been  passed 
all  too  near  its  fatal  upas-shadow.  We  have  before  us  the  per- 
sonification of  a  lover  of  precedents  and  rules ;  of  one  who  finds 
his  safety  in  following  the  direction  of  others,  and  in  treading 
■well-beaten  paths.  And  yet,  intelligent,  and  highly  industrious, 
he  has  already  left  his  mark  upon  his  city  and  neighbourhood  ; 
nor  is  the  metropolis  of  his  country  without  knowledge  of  his 
reputation. 

It  is  Francisco  Pacheco,  the  painter.    By  birth  he  is  a  native 

B  2 


4 


VELAZQUEZ. 


of  Seville  and  a  scion  of  a  family  of  ancient  nanie,^  so  ancient 
indeed  that  the  interesting  links  by  which  it  is  connected  with 
Phoenician  nomenclature  form  a  chain  which  may  perhaps  retain 
its  continuity  under  the  hammer  of  the  most  exacting  criticism. 
Nor  is  an  ancient  name  all  that  is  left  to  the  family  in  the  way 
of  earthly  distinction.  His  uncle  is  one  of  the  principal  digni- 
taries of  the  cathedral.  And  doubtless  he  can  claim  some 
kindred  too  -  with  the  Capitan  Don  Jacinto  Pacheco,  also  a 
Sevillan,  who  is  about  to  serve  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Duke  of  Medina-Sidonia,  and  who  will  one  day  for  his  military 
services  prefer  a  claim  to  royalty  for  the  much-coveted  Abito  de 
Santiago.  But  whatever  be  his  claims  to  nobility  of  race,  (nor 
are  they  without  a  certain  importance,)  he  is  a  man  of  no 
ignoble  mind.  One  quality,  a  stranger  to  the  spirits  of  the  low  and 
base,  he  possesses  in  a  remarkable  degree.  He  can  see  and  greet 
with  manly  recognition  excellencies  in  the  performances  of  others. 

The  younger  man  who  rides  beside  him,  wrapt  in  a  cloak,  the 
ample  folds  of  which  are  thrown  back  round  the  neck,  and  fall 
behind  the  shoulder,  is  bound  to  him  by  ties  of  the  closest 
kind.  He  has  been  his  pupil  through  five  long  years  of  patient 
toil,  and  has  found  a  wife  in  the  master's  daughter.  He  is  him- 
self by  this  time  too  the  happy  father  of  daughters  twain,  fair 
children  whom  he  has  just  left  sleeping  calmly  in  the  house  at 
home.  In  person  somewhat  slight  of  figure  he  is  blessed  with 
a  lithe  and  active  frame,  and  sits  erect  on  his  mule  as  one  con- 
scious of  innate  power,  and  buoyant  with  youthful  hopes.  There 
is  a  frank  expression  about  those  clear  dark  eyes  that  look  out 
from  beneath  the  arches  of  the  high,  open  forehead.  The  nose, 
slightly  aquiline,  is  suggestive  of  vigour.  The  mouth,  though 
firm,  is  not  so  set  but  that  it  easily  relaxes  into  a  pleasant  smile. 
The  hair  falls  in  full  waving  masses. 

It  is  the  figure  of  one  destined  hereafter  to  become  one  of  the 
greatest  of  all  Spanish  painters,  Diego  de  Silva  y  Velazquez. 
1  See  Appenflix.    Kote  A. 


INTRODUCTION. 


5 


Half  Portuguese  by  origin,  wholly  Andalucian  by  birth,  he 
may  be  said  to  have  just  so  much  connection  with  the  Western 
kingdom  as  to  be  a  representative  man  for  the  whole  peninsula. 
His  father,  Juan  Eodrigaez  de  Silva,  had  been  permanently 
settled  at  Seville  before  he  there  married  Dona  Geronima  Velaz- 
quez. The  sixth  of  June,  1599,  saw  the  parents  attending  the 
baptism  of  their  child  at  the  church  of  San  Pedro. ^  His 
destiny  began  to  shape  itself  when  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen 
he  was  learning  something  of  painting  from  the  great  professor 
of  the  day,  Herrera  el  Yiejo.  But  the  lad  was  not  happy  under 
a  man  of  so  severe  a  temperament,  and  fortunately  for  tlie  Arts, 
the  school  of  Herrera  was  not  the  only  one  that  Seville  then  had 
to  offer.  At  fourteen  he  migrated  to  the  blander  discipline  of 
Pacheco's  tutelage,  and  the  ten  years  that  have  passed  since 
then  have  but  served  to  bind  together  more  closely  the  ties 
between  master  and  pupil. 

Onwards  tkey  travel,  and  at  length  reach  the  mills  and  bake- 
houses of  the  town  of  Alcala.  Here,  if  anywhere  in  Spain,  the 
means  of  satisfying  the  wants  of  the  inner  man  are  to  be  had  in 
plenty.  It  is  a  true  Spanish  Bethlehem.  Bread  is  all  round 
one  in  this  town  of  flour-toilers,  as  are  maccaroni  and  pasta  in  a 
Neapolitan  suburb.  Hanging  up  in  life-buoy  circles,  arranged  in 
tempting  order  on  tables  in  the  open,  it  meets  one's  eye  at  every 
turn.  The  reins  of  the  mules  are  hitched  up  to  a  peg  outside 
the  door  of  a  x>osada,  and  the  riders  disappear  within  to  search 
for  mine  host.  The  light  Spanish  meal  is  soon  prepared  and 
disposed  of,  and  they  wend  their  way  across  the  Plaza  to  the 
church  of  San  Sebastian  to  see  how  time  is  dealing  with  a 
work  hanging  there  which  had  first  seen  the  light  on  Pacheco's 
easel.  This  simple  courtesy  performed,  they  mount  again,  and, 
with  the  morning  still  young,  set  forth  upon  the  road  towards 
Mairena. 

The  course  that  now  lies  before  them  is  not  unknown  to  either, 
^  Cean  Bermudez  appears  to  have  seen  the  entry  of  his  baptism  there. 


6 


VELAZQUEZ. 


tliougli  it  was  but  a  year  ago  that  Velazquez  for  the  first  time 
encountered  its  hazards  and  uncertainties.  Long  had  he  been 
fired  with  the  desire  to  view  the  noble  works  of  art  hanging  on 
the  walls  of  the  Escorial,  of  which  his  father-in-law  was  so  often 
talking.  Mingled  with  this  feeling  too  was  the  hope,  happily 
common  to  the  youthful  and  ardent  of  all  countries,  of  winning 
fame  and  honour  at  the  great  centre  of  competitive  talent,  the 
metropolis.  But  it  was  a  long  and  somewhat  costly  journey  to 
Madrid.  At  last,  however,  the  opportunity  had  come  ;  and  his 
day-dreams  of  an  art-pilgrimage  had  become  a  reality.  The 
hopes,  however,  of  that  sudden  leap  to  fame  in  which  he  had  also 
indulged  had  not  been  realised  :  so  hard  is  it  for  most  of  us  to 
storm  the  citadel  of  Fortune.  Nor  was  the  failure  due  to  lack 
of  kindly  assistance.  He  had  found  friends  in  Don  Luis  de 
Gongora  of  Madrid,  and  in  Don  Melchior  del  Alcazar,  who  had 
both  done  what  they  could.  He  had  received  all  possible  assist- 
ance from  a  courtier  of  note,  Don  Juan  de  Fonseca  y  Figueroa^ ; 
but  the  Fates  had  not  been  propitious,  and  he  had  returned  to 
Seville.  I^ow,  however,  there  is  a  change  in  the  aspect  of 
affairs,  and  Don  Juan  has  interested  the  all-powerful  minister 
Olivarez  in  the  fate  of  the  young  Sevillan.  The  result  has  been 
a  letter  of  instructions  calling  hira  to  Madrid.  And  so  Velaz- 
quez and  his  father-in-law  are  now  journeying  northwards  on 
their  way  to  the  capital. 

As  the  day  advances  the  sun's  rays  beat  down  hotly  upon 
them.  Happily  the  mules  are  fresh  enough,  and  go  on  their 
way  if  not  right  merrily  at  least  right  steadily.  They  scent 
their  mid-day  provender  afar.  When  Mairena  is  reached  rest 
comes  not  amiss  to  either  man  or  beast. 

^  The  ancestral  palace  of  tlie  great  Spanish  house  of  the  Fonsecas  stood 
at  Coca,  near  Segovia.  It  subsequently  passed  to  the  Dukes  of  Alba,  a 
family  still  extant  in  Spain.  It  was  at  the  house  of  a  Duke  of  Alha  that 
the  ex-erapress  of  the  French  in  1879  awaited  the  moment  for  attending 
the  funeral  of  her  mother. 


THE  CORONATION  OF  THE  VIRGIN.     BY  VELAZQUEZ. 
In  the  Madrid  Gallery. 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


Carmona,  "  the  clean  white  town  on  the  eastern  extremity 
of  the  ridge  "  up  which  they  have  been  mounting  the  latter  part 
of  the  day,  is  reached  before  nightfall.  The  quarters  at  the 
hostelry  are  comfortable  enough  for  the  men,  and  so  it  may  be, 
if  habit  has  become  second  nature,  for  their  beasts  also  ;  otherwise 
to  pass  the  night  with  their  heads  tied  up  short  to  the  top  of  a  post 
can  hardly  be  the  summit  of  quadrupedal  bliss.  Our  travellers, 
ere  they  retire  to  rest,  pay  a  visit  to  the  church,  prompted  in 
part  by  the  same  motive  that  influenced  them  at  Alcala,  for 
here  too  Pacheco  has  found  patrons,  and  his  work  of  '  Tlie 
Descent  from  the  Cross  '  is  hanging  in  a  place  of  honour.  The 
earliest  flush  of  the  morrow's  daybreak  sees  them  passing  under 
the  noble  ruins  of  the  Alcazar,  and  out  by  the  JN'orthern  Gate, 
prepared  to  descend  into  the  plain,  the  magnificent  panorama  of 
which  spreads  out  for  miles  before  them.  Nature  has  been 
lavish  of  her  floral  wealth  this  fair  spring-tide.  There  blossom 
by  the  wayside  the  clear  blue  iris  and  the  tall  gladiolus,  amid 
heathery  growth  of  cistus,  now  white,  now  rose-coloured,  while 
far  below  are  seen  broad  oceans  of  purple  blossom,  through 
which  meander  gulf-streams  of  golden  petal — a  mere  outside 
fragment  of  the  truth  enshrined  within  the  distich — 

Quien  no  ha  visto  a  Sevilla 
No  ha  visto  a  Maravilla. 

He  who  has  not  at  Seville  been. 
Has  not,  I  trow,  a  wonder  seen. 

With  our  travellers,  as  the  stages  of  the  journey  drag  their 
slow  length  along,  the  day  waxes  and  wanes.  Before  darkness 
has  wrapped  the  landscape  in  gloom  they  are  making  their  way 
through  the  gardens  on  the  banks  of  the  Xenil  up  to  the  entrance 
of  the  city  of  Ecija. 

Two  days  later  they  cross  the  Guadalquivir,  and  thread  the 
narrow  streets  of  Cordova. 

And  here,  in  this  old  capital  of  Moorish  Empire,  the  nurse  of 
captains,  the  cradle  of  science,  they  needs  must  halt  awhile. 


8 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Apart  from  tlie  rest  which  wisdom  suggests  should  be  given  to 
their  beasts  ere  long  days  of  further  marching  be  encountered, 
they  have  friends  who  must  not  be  neglected.  With  what  face 
can  Pacheco  greet  his  old  ally  the  poet  Don  Luis  de  Gongora  at 
his  journey's  end  if  he  brings  him  no  tidings  of  his  kindred  1 
It  is  a  dozen  years  now  since,  on  returning  from  Madrid,  he  lay 
under  their  roof-tree  here,  but  Velazquez  has  been  a  more  recent 
visitor.  They  will  not  have  forgotten  his  coming  to  them  last 
year  with  greetings  from  Don  Luis,  and  hearing  all  about  the 
portrait  of  their  relative  which  the  young  artist  had  been  painting 
at  Madrid.  And  besides,  the  two  painters  have  never  visited 
in  one  another's  company  the  glories  of  the  great  Mosque, — the 
Mesquita, — the  forest  of  countless  shafts,  where  aisle  wanders 
into  aisle  in  labyrinthine  mystery — those  silent  but  not  voiceless 
pillars  torn  from  ancient  shrines  of  either  continent.  The  brief 
hours  are  all  too  scanty. 

I^orth  of  Cordova  the  river  is  crossed  again,  and  by  moder- 
ate stages  Andujar  and  Bailen  are  reached.  Thence  by  the 
mountain  passes  they  wend  their  way  into  La  Mancha,  the 
home  of  Cervantes's  chivalrous  knight,  where  "the  traveller  is 
sickened  by  tlie  wide  expanse  of  monotonous  steppes."  A 
momentary  relief  from  this  form  of  maladie  clu  pays  is  obtained 
at  Valdepenas,  the  local  vintage  being  the  best  of  remedies  for 
lowness  of  spirits.  Presently  they  i3ass  into  a  district  of  wind- 
mills— luxuries  of  then  recent  introduction — and  further  onward 
still  pass  the  birthplace  of  that  luckless  child  of  Christian  parents 
who^  according  to  the  accusation  of  Toledan  clergy,  was  sacrificed 
to  celebrate  a  Jewish  passover ;  the  story  painted  on  the  walls 
of  a  church  testifying  to  its  own  veracity  for  all  time  :  on 
through  Toledan  mountain  chains  into  plains  that  feed  the 
mighty  Tagus,  hard  upon  the  banks  of  which  lies  the  fair 
pleasaunce  of  Aranjuez,  and  so  by  level  stages — to  Madrid. 


DON  FERDINAND  OF  AUSTRIA. 
By  Velazquez. 
Jk  the  Madrid  Gallery. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    COURT  OF    SPAIN  PHILIP    IV.  ISABEL    DE    BOURBON  DON 

CARLOS    AND    DON    FERDINAND  DONA    MARIA    AND  PRINCE 

CHARLES  OF  ENGLAND  DUKE  OF  OLIVAREZ  LOPE  DE  VEGA  

THE  PRETENDIENTE. 

AT  the  time  at  which  our  actors  come  prominently  forward 
on  the  stage,  the  throne  of  Spain  was  occupied  by 
Philip  IV.  and  his  Queen  Isabel  de  Eourbon.  The  youthful 
monarch  had  succeeded  to  the  heavy  burden  of  supreme  power 
at  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  and  was  at  the  date  of  which 
we  are  treating — the  spring  of  the  year  1623 — as  nearly  as 
might  be,  eighteen  years  old,  the  earliest  time  of  life  at  which, 
according  to  English  practice,  children  of  the  monarch  are  con- 
sidered fit  to  support  the  cares  of  sovereignty,  or  even  to  endure 
the  toga  virilis.  His  gigantic  empire  embraced  not  only  Spain 
but  Portugal ;  not  only  the  Peninsula,  but  far  off  possessions  in 
the  Spanish  Main,  while  Naples  and  the  Netherlands  formed 
valuable  outlying  dependencies  of  the  central  body.  As  the 
still  more  extensive  empire,  which  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  had  seen  gradually  arise,  had  not  proved  too  large  for 
the  activity  and  dynastic  power  of  a  single  individual — so  also 
might  it  have  been  again,  had  Spain  at  this  juncture  given  birth 
to  a  ruler  possessed  of  the  determination  to  devote  his  energies  to 
the  one  great  task  of  maintaining  a  wise  government  over  the 


10 


VELAZQUEZ. 


nations  committed  to  his  care.  The  partial  dismemberment  of 
the  united  king(ioms  that  followed  immediately  upon  the  death  of 
Charles  V.  would  in  one  respect  have  rendered  the  difficulties  of 
organisation  less  arduous  than  heretofore,  for  to  direct  communi- 
cation between  Spain  and  Germany  either  the  height  of  the 
Alps  or  the  breadth  of  the  kingdom  of  France  had  ever  inter- 
posed a  barrier  of  no  common  kind.  But — despite  the  addition  of 
Portugal  under  the  sway  of  Philip  11. — at  the  time  of  the 
accession  of  Philip  IV.  the  process  of  a  real  disintegration  had 
in  effect  begun.  The  destruction  of  her  great  invincible  Armada 
in  1598  had  struck  a  fatal  blow  to  tlie  maritime  claims  of  Spain, 
and  the  twenty  years  during  which  the  minister  Lerma  had 
subsequently  guided  the  helm  of  state  had  been  witnesses  to 
the  growth  of  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  and  ever-increasing  dis- 
content, only  too  surely  destined,  when  the  opportunity  arose,  to 
break  out  into  open  defection.  Half  that  length  of  time  had 
been  sufficient  to  bring  about  a  state  of  things  in  which  the 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  United  Provinces  had 
become,  if  not  an  actual  necessity,  at  least  a  step  which  a  wise 
poHcy  dare  no  longer  defer.  The  expulsion  of  the  Moors,  that 
followed  almost  immediately  in  the  wake  of  what  had  been 
practically  a  defeat  in  those  northern  lands,  was  an  act  of 
politico-religious  statecraft  that  had  also  greatly  lessened  the 
contingencies  of  success  for  Spanish  arms  and  Spanish  wealth 
in  any  protracted  struggle.  Such  had  been  the  course  of  events 
up  to  the  time  of  the  fall  of  Lerma,  a  premier  who  had  been 
even  quite  early  in  his  career  so  far  bent  on  schemes  of  personal 
aggrandisement,  and  so  far  successful  in  those  schemes,  as  to 
have  raised  for  himself  a  vast  palaite  from  the  spoil  of  his  ill-gotten 
gains.  That  minister's  disgrace  had  not  occurred  early  enough 
in  the  lifetime  of  the  late  king  to  admit  of  any  great  change  in 
the  condition  of  affairs,  before  the  mightier  monarch  Death 
called  the  too  indolent  Sovereign  himself  to  give  an  account  of 
his  stewardship. 


THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN. 


11 


Such  then  was  the  aspect  of  the  political  horizon  when 
Philip  TV.  first  mounted  the  steps  of  his  ancestral  throne.  Tall, 
and  for  his  years  somewhat  slender  in  figure,  he  carried  with 
equal  grace  and  dignity  a  head  marked  by  the  joint  traces  of  his 
Spanish  and  Austrian  origin  ;  the  face  long,  pale,  and  thin,  in 
repose  grave  ^  even  to  a  fault,  the  eyes  the  reverse  of  vivacious, 
set  beneath  the  high  arches  of  an  elevated  and  open  forehead. 
It  was  a  head  in  which  there  was  no  deficiency  of  brain.  The 
all-important  question  was  in  what  direction  those  intellectual 
powers  were  to  develope  themselves — to  what  main  purpose  of 
life  they  should  be  bent.  For  a  thirst  for  military  glory  to  have 
been  the  leading  feature  in  the  character  of  the  son  of  Philip 
III.  would  indeed  have  been  an  anomaly ;  but  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  noble  deeds  he  might  have  been  encouraged.  At 
eighteen  or  twenty,  even  in  a  southern  clime,  the  character  is  not 
of  necessity  so  fixed  as  to  resist  every  generous  impulse  that 
may  urge  it  into  fresh  paths.  In  this  case  the  natural  tendency, 
which  a  happier  guidance  would  have  been  striving  to  correct, 
was,  however,  already  clearly  evident  in  too  unrestrained  a 
taste  for  ease  and  pleasure.  Yet  it  were  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  youthful  king  was  an  inactive  sluggard.  Energies  he 
possessed  and  these  he  exercised;  pov/ers  he  possessed  and  these 
he  exerted.  The  philanthropist  and  the  historian  may  well  be 
permitted  to  mourn  his  lost  opportunities  of  establishing  a  prince's 
firm  grasp  over  such  broad  realms,  and  of  exerting  a  directly 
beneficial  influence  upon  the  nations  beneath  his  sway  :  yet  Art 
cannot  but  hail  him  as  a  benefactor.  His  natural  bias  led  him 
to  find  much  of  his  enjoyment  in  the  manly  exercises  of  the 
chase.    A  no  less  spontaneous  feeling  prompted  him  to  the 

^  Stirling-Maxwell,  on  this  point,  refers  to  the  dicta  of  contemporary 
writers,  who  speak  of  his  "talents  for  dead  silence  and  marble  iramo- 
bility "  as  talents  "  so  highly  improved  that  he  could  sit  out  a  comedy 
without  stirring  hand  or  foot,  and  conduct  an  audience  without  movement 
of  a  muscle,  except  those  in  his  lips  and  tongue." 


12 


VELAZQUEZ. 


cultivation  of  literature,  and  to  the  encouragement  of  the  sister 
arts.  It  was  his  to  fill  his  court  with  a  gay  and  brilliant  assem- 
blage of  the  bluest  blood  in  Spain.  It  was  no  less  his  to  temper 
the  magnificence  of  his  pageants,  and  the  aristocratic  splendour 
of  his  state  banquets,  by  the  introduction  of  elements  of  more 
enduring  worth.  Himself  something  of  an  artist — it  may  be 
but  a  half-brother  of  the  guild — he  was  nobly  endowed  with 
the  fticulty  of  recognising  artistic  excellence  in  others.  If  it  be 
as  worthy  an  object  of  our  human  desires  as  it  is  a  common  one 
to  wish  to  leave  something  behind  us  that,  when  we  quit  this 
stage,  shall  preserve  to  posterity  the  memory  of  our  form  and 
features,  Philip  has  been  richly  rewarded  for  his  magnanimity 
in  this  respect.  Of  all  monarchs  few  have  been  so  frequently, 
none  so  faithfully,  pourtrayed  on  a  lasting  canvas.  In  youth,  in 
maturity,  in  declining  years;  on  foot,  and  on  horseback  ;  dressed 
for  the  chase,  or  already  absorbed  in  its  pleasures ;  alone,  or  in 
the  same  scene  with  his  daughter  and  his  queen ;  in  the  richest 
of  armour,  or  more  plainly  clad  and  lowly  kneeling  at  his 
prayers — few  are  the  actions  of  his  life  in  which  we  cannot, 
even  at  this  distance  of  time,  see  him  actually  before  us.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  the  vexata  qucestio  of  the  special 
title  to  our  reverence  possessed  by  this  or  that  of  the  numerous 
pictures,  most  of  which  are  indisputably  genuine,  that  lay  claim  to 
such  honours.  Let  it  suffice  to  remind  ourselves  that  some  of  this 
wealth  of  portraiture  has  found  a  resting-place  on  English  soil, 
and  that  we  have  but  to  step  aside  a  moment  from  a  crowded 
London  thoroughfare,  or  to  stroll  to  the  pleasant  shade  of  the 
lanes  of  suburban  Dulwich,  to  learn  more  in  a  few  moments  of 
this  former  king  of  Spain  than  can  be  taught  by  a  flood  of  mere 
description.  The  quiet  halls  of  the  National  Gallery  present  us 
with  the  lineaments  of  a  face  which  once  seen  will  not  easily  be 
forgotten ;  nor  shall  we  doubt  for  a  moment  whose  is  the  living 
image  before  which  we  stand,  when  gazing  on  the  figure  clothed  in 
raiment  of  scarlet  and  of  silver  that  has  been  preserved  for  us 


DOxNA  ISABEL  DE  BOURBOiN. 
By  Velazquez. 


THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN. 


13 


by  the  noble  and  well-directed  munificence  of  a  Burgeois  and  a 
Desenfans. 

As  a  patron  of  literature,  too,  he  stands  upon  a  pinnacle. 
Around  him  gathered  whatever  of  talent  in  verse  or  prose, 
or  of  elegance  and  skill  in  dramatic  composition,  could  break 
down  the  slender  barrier  that  guarded  the  first  entrance  to  his 
court.  A  strong  supporter  of  the  drama,  he  bid  a  theatre  rise 
within  the  precincts  of  a  royal  Sifio,  nor  were  any  pains  esteemed 
too  great,  nor  sums  too  large,  to  set  forth  each  moving  tale  with 
honour  due. 

The  comparatively  subordinate  part  which  woman  plays,  at 
least  to  the  outward  eye,  in  the  course  of  public  affairs  in  Spain, 
is  doubtless  the  cause  of  our  having  scant  record  left  us  of  his 
Queen,  Isabel  de  Bourbon.  Daughter  of  Henri  IV.  of  France, 
and  consequently  sister  of  that  Henrietta  Maria  who  is  said  to 
have  charmed  and  won  the  affections  of  the  errant  Prince  Charles 
at  a  single  glance,  she  was  remarkable  for  a  rare  beauty.  A 
face  somewhat  oval,  in  which  was  set  a  delicate  nose  just  so  far 
free  from  being  aquiline  as  to  escape  the  charge  of  severity, 
was  enlivened  by  glancing  eyes  of  lustrous  gaze.  The  tournure 
of  her  neck  was  the  perfection  of  elegance  and  grace ;  the 
head,  so  neatly  shaped,  was  covered  with  a  profusion  of  the 
loveliest  of  curling  locks.  In  lofty  birth  and  courtly  manners 
a  fitting  consort  for  her  august  spouse,  her  figure  may  be  seen 
in  the  canvases  of  the  court-painter,  now  seated  on  a  well-trained 
palfre}^,  now  kneeling  at  her  prayers,  now  with  her  maids  of 
honour  joining  in  the  pastimes  of  the  hunting-grounds.  Thus 
does  she  come  before  us  in  those  "  companion  "  pictures  that  are 
in  one  sense  replicas  (if  with  variation)  of  those  that  represent 
her  lord. 

As  yet  the  child-prince  of  the  Asturias,  in  whom  so  many 
hopes  will  one  day  be  centred,  is  not  born  into  the  world ;  but 
the  circle  of  royalty  is  incomplete  without  the  figures  of  the 
king's  brothers,  Don  Carlos  and  the  Cardinal  (for  he  is  alike 


14 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Cardinal  and  Arclibishop  of  Toledo)  Don  Fernando,  both  in 
Spanish  style  yclept  "  Infantes,''  though  one  is  thirteen  years  old, 
and  the  other  has  already  numbered  seventeen  summers.  The 
younger,  spite  of  his  clerical  or  supposed  clerical  calling,  will 
soon  be  found  "  the  life  and  soul  of  the  court  and  the  leader 
of  its  revels,"  and  as  the  years  roll  on  will  attain  to  something 
of  military  fame  and  honour.  Destined  to  perish  ere  the 
prime  of  life  be  reached,  he  will  yet  outlive  his  elder  brother 
Carlos. 

There  also  moves  upon  the  dais  of  the  same  courtly  stage  the 
form  of'  the  king's  sister.  Dona  Maria,  to  whose  hand  no  less  a 
personage  is  pretending  than  the  son  of  our  English  Monarch 
James.  For  at  this  moment  Charles,  Prince  of  Wales,  is  at 
Mad  rid. 1 

The  story  that  reads  almost  like  an  Oriental  love- tale  is  familiar 
enough.  How  that  a  prince  of  the  blood,  heir  to  the  throne 
of  England,  obtained  leave  from  a  too  fond  father  to  travel  in 
mufti,  accompanied  by  the  Grand  Vizier,  in  search  of  a  foreign 
princess.  How — passing  by  one  Court  where  dwelt  a  king's  fair 
daughter,  predestined  by  the  Fates  to  be  the  partner  of  a  life 
vrliich  opening  brightly  had  so  dark  and  tragic  a  close — he  hast- 
ened on  across  the  southern  mountain  ranges  to  the  still  more 
splendid  Court  of  a  still  more  mighty  potentate.  How,  entering 
the  city  gates  unnoticed,  the  twain  knocked  humbly,  or  as 
humbly  as  in  them  lay,  at  the  door  of  the  palace  of  the  Lord- 
Eesident  from  their  own  country,  to  be  received  by  him  as  per- 
haps totally  unexpected  guests  ;  and  how,  when  the  story  of 
their  arrival  at  length  became  noised  abroad,  the  delighted  in- 
habitants of  the  capital,  overjoyed  at  the  advent  of  a  foreign 
suitor  who  had  come  so  weary  a  journey  in  such  true-lover  guise, 
greeted  him  with  loudest  acclaim  and  all-jubilant  cries  of  welcome. 

^  The  Prince  reached  Madrid  on  the  evening  of  the  16th  March,  1623, 
and  made  his  state  entry  there  ten  days  later. 


THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN. 


15 


The  ialements  that  form  tlie  Saturn-ring  that  encircles  this 
luminous  centre  of  royal  persona;4es  are  numerous  and  varied 
indeed.  In  front  of  all,  the  observed  of  all  observers,  there 
stands  out  the  figure  of  the  king's  great  minister  [su  gran privado)^ 
the  Count  Duke  of  Olivarez. 

Taking  his  title  from  a  little  Andalucian  town  that  lies  a  few 
miles  away  from  the  city  of  Seville — a  town  comparatively 
unknown  to  fame  save  from  the  gleam  that  the  lustre  of  this 
great  name  has  shed  upon  it,  and  still  but  rarely  visited  save  by 
an  occasional  amateur  desirous  of  doing  honour  to  the  memory 
and  works  of  its  canon  of  former  days,  the  painter  Roelas — for 
upwards  of  twenty  years  Don  Gaspar  de  Guzman,  Conde 
Duque  de  Olivarez,  y  Duque  de  San  Lucar,  guided  the  fortunes  of 
the  Spanish  commonweal  both  at  home  and  abroad.  To  write 
his  history  during  these  years  would  be  to  Avrite  the  history  of  his 
country,  but  we  may  at  least  gatlier  from  the  points  that  bring 
him  more  immediately  in  contact  with  the  painter  whose  life  is 
here  to  be  pourtrayed,  that  as  a  patron  of  art  he  was  not  merely 
a  constant  and  indefatigable  ally,  but  one  capable  of  inspiring 
strong  and  affectionate  gratitude. 

Had  he  been  really  great  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term  he 
would  have  laboured  to  instil  into  the  mind  of  the  Monarch, 
whose  tender  years  he  was  called  upon  to  guide,  a  lofty  sense 
of  the  duties  that  had  devolved  upon  him  as  an  independent 
autocrat.  He  would  have  been  repaid,  had  he  desired  other  repay- 
ment than  the  consciousness  of  having  stepped  aside  at  the  call 
of  patriotism  from  the  alluring  patlis  of  individual  power  and 
supremacy,  by  finding  a  willing  ear  ever  afterward  bent  to  his 
advice  in  the  council-chamber  and  in  the  closet :  and  he  would  not 
have  met  at  last  the  fate  of  a  Wolsey.  But  unhappily  for  his 
country  and  unhappily  for  his  memory,  he  sought  rather  to  lull 
to  rest  any  rising  scruples  in  the  breast  of  the  youthful  king^ 
well  content  if  he  could  but  divert  his  attention  from  questions 
of  State  policy  to  matters  of  comparatively  trifling  moment,  or 


VELAZQUEZ. 


engage  him  in  a  round  of  court  pleasures  and  gaieties.  It  was 
his  base  desire  that  pursuits  unimportant  and  trivial  should  by- 
insensible  degrees  so  captivate  and  engross  the  attention  of  his 
royal  master  as  at  last  to  become  the  pabulum  needful  for  his 
very  existence.  The  triumph  of  the  hour,  and  that  hour  a  long- 
protracted  one,  was  his.  For  years  he  ruled  with  a  sway  well 
nigh  absolute,  but  vengeance  came  at  last,  and  the  hand  that 
struck  the  blow  was  the  hand  of  the  man  whose  moral  life  he 
had  intentionally  neglected  to  improve. 

This  proud  noble  we  have  to  picture  to  ourselves  moving 
in  each  courtly  scene,  erect  and  stately,  now  holding  brief 
parley  with  some  eager  pretendiente  or  place-hunter,  who,  armed 
with  credentials  from  some  distant  scene  of  civil  stru<jfgle  or 
foreign  warfare,  is  lying  eagerly  in  wait  for  such  outlying  share 
of  loaves  and  fishes  as  may  chance  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  most 
hungry-eyed  ;  now  in  graver  converse  with  some  great  ambas- 
sador from  a  foreign  Court,  or  interchanging  more  lightsome 
badinage  (for  despite  that  severe  and  stately  mien  he  well  knows 
how  to  unbend  in  season  due)  with  viceroys  home  on  furlough, 
with  captain,  admiral,  or  general,  or  with  less  prominent  repre- 
sentatives of  either  arm  of  the  military  service. 

Were  we  to  follow  him  to  his  Cabinet  we  should  see  his 
secretaries  and  under-secretaries  hurrying  to  him  with  missives 
and  papers  which  a  stroke  of  that  omnipotent  pen  turned  into  com- 
mands which  none  might  disobey,  and  which  sent  squadrons  sail- 
ing north  or  south,  moved  armies  from  post  to  post,  laid  siege  to 
cities,  or  gave  weight  and  colour  to  arguments  that  should  guide 
even  the  mind  of  Papal  infallibility.  Or  again,  were  we  per- 
mitted to  pass  the  jealous  portals  of  his  splendid  collection  of 
books  and  enter  that  almost  royal  library,  at  once  his  pleasure 
and  his  pride,  we  might  find  him  discussing  in  some  moment  of 
leisure  the  turn  of  a  verse,  or  the  balance  of  a  rhyme,  with  one 
of  the  many  authors  over  whom  he  was  wont  to  throw  the 
friendly  segis  of  his  patronage.     There  might  perchance  be 


THE  DUKE  DE  OLIVARES. 
By  Velazquez. 
In  the  Madrid  Gallery. 


THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN. 


17 


found  the  royal  secretary,  Quevedo,  bearing  in  his  hand  a  proof 
of  his  '  Obras  Jocosas,'  yet  wet  from  the  press,  eager  for  a  few 
touches  of  that  censorship  the  introduction  of  which  would  add 
so  much  to  his  patron's  wilHngness  to  serve  him  ;  or  some  hidalgo 
friend,  like  himself  a  patron  of  belles  lettres,  discoursing  on  the 
hidden  meaning  concealed  in  this  or  that  passage  of  the  inimit- 
able Cervantes — that  author  whom  Spain  had  left  a  prey  to  poverty 
while  alive,  and  whose  merits,  now  he  was  gone,  she  was  learning 
to  recognise.  Or,  on  such  lighter  employment  might  intrude  the 
architect  charged  with  the  designs  for  the  palace  and  gardens 
(that  since  then  have  borne  an  European  reputation),  destined  to 
rise  in  stately  pride  at  Buen  Eetiro,  Briefly,  we  should  find  liim 
a  man  of  highly  versatile  talents  and  of  varied  tastes.  Bat  his 
master  passions,  pride  and  the  lust  of  power,^  overtop  all  other 
qualities. 

Foremost  among  the  literati  of  the  hour  we  encounter  the 
thought-crowded  brow  of  Lope  de  Vega,  entitled  in  fuller  style 
Fray  Lope  Felix  de  Vega  Carpio, — that  author  who  has  already 
passed  his  sixtieth  year,  but  whose  rapid  power  of  production  is 
still  the  marvel  of  the  literary  world.  His  works  have  been  of 
a  diverse  nature,  as  his  life  has  been  a  checquered  one  ;  but  it  is 
with  those  of  a  dramatic  kind  that  his  name  is,  snd  will  be, 
most  inseparably  connected.  A  host  of  causes  have  conspired  to 
make  the  knowledge  of  the  Castilian  tongue  wide-spread  in 
Europe  at  this  time,  and  to  the  Spanish  drama,  as  to  a  fresli- 
welling  fountain,  authors  of  other  countries  repair.  At  this  era 
its  waters  are  gushing  forth  in  a  copious  and  well-nigh  over- 
whelming flood.    In  the  words, 

Pues  mas  de  cieuto  eu  horas'veinte  quattro 
Pasaron  de  las  Musas  al  theatre  : 

we  have  a  record  that  Lope  de  Yega  has  himself  left  us  of 
his  own  unrivalled  rapidity  of  conception  and  fertility  of  pro- 
duction. "  A  hundred  dramas  in  a  hundred  days,"  thrown 
off  with  a  pen  that  could  scarcely  keep  pace  with  the  flow  of 

Y  C 


18 


VELAZQUEZ. 


imagination.  The  statemonts  of  otliors  on  the  subject  of  tliis 
extraordinary  power  range  far  beyond  the  ultimate  limits  of  the 
credible. 

His  fame  is  of  the  widest.  As  in  our  own  day  it  has  been 
deemed  an  honour  to  be  admitted  to  the  intercourse  of  a  Bunsen, 
a  Niebuhr,  or  a  Humboldt,  so,  from  far  and  wide  come  visitors 
all  anxiety  to  converse  with,  even  if  it  be  but  for  a  brief  space,  or 
failing  that,  merely  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  one  who  has  achieved 
such  extraordinary  renown.  He  can  hardly  pass  through  the 
streets  without  a  crowd.  A  Papal  Nuncio  has  followed  him 
thus,  with  every  mark  of  veneration.  Even  his  Sovereign  will 
stop  to  gaze  at  this  marvellous  production  of  his  dominions, 
recognising  in  him  no  longer  a  subject,  but  a  fellow-Spaniard, 
and  a  fellow-worshipper  at  the  Muses'  shrine. 

Enjoying  now  distinction,  w^ealth,  and  fame,  he  is  in  a  haven 
of  calm,  after  a  life  of  vicissitude.  Madrid  had  been  his  birth- 
place, but  such  instruction  as  had  fallen  to  his  lot  had  been 
obtained  at  the  seat  of  learning  at  Alcala  de  Henares,  and  for 
that  he  had  been  indebted  to  the  purse  of  an  early  patron,  a 
wealthy  ecclesiastic.  Thus  furnished  for  life's  journey,  he  had 
attached  himself  to  one  who  bore  a  name  of  note,  taking  service 
with  the  Dul^e  of  Alva.  That  service  left,  he  had  entered  the 
married  state.  A  duel  had  compelled  him  to  fly  from  Madrid 
and  from  the  arms  of  his  newly-married  bride.  At  Valencia  he 
had  found  a  shelter,  and  when  it  became  safe  for  him  to  revisit 
Madrid,  no  long  period  elapsed  before  the  hand  of  death  robbed 
him  of  his  wife.  And  then  with  many  gallant  Spaniards  he 
trod  the  deck  of  a  vessel  in  the  Great  Fleet,  and  saw  the  white 
cliffs  and  nobly-manned  bulwarks  of  old  Englaud,  as  day  after 
day  the  sea-fight  raged  along  her  southern  shores.  In  very 
truth  it  may  be  said  of  him — 

"  Philippos  et  celerem  fugam 
Sensit " — 

a  poet  among  men  of  war.    Unlike  so  many  who  ventured  on 


THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN. 


19 


that  fatal  quest,  he  lived  to  reach  his  native  country  again,  and 
ten  years  later  to  enter  on  a  contest  unstained  by  bloodshed. 
The  hour  for  San  Isidoro's  canonisation  had  come,  and  must 
be  greeted  with  no  common  honours.  Pitted  against  all  the 
best  poets  of  the  day,  Lope  de  Vega  had  carried  off  the  palm 
of  victory,  hymning  the  praises  of  the  saint.  Thenceforth  there 
had  been  none  to  challenge  his  fame  and  honours ;  and  wealth 
and  affluence  had  flowed  in  upon  him,  a  tide  that  knew  no  ebb. 

The  lower  orders  of  the  Court  creation  stand  in  the  back- 
ground, a  motley  company.  In  a  country  into  which  changes  of 
manners  creep  almost  as  slowly  as  they  are  permitted  to  vary  the 
stereotyped  customs  of  Eastern  nations,  we  can  gather  a  fair  idea 
of  the  kind  of  life  the  PreUmdiente  of  that  time  had  to  lead,  from 
the  descrijDtion  given  by  Doblado  a  century  or  two  later.  Pre- 
mising that  in  his  day  there  was  hardly  a  single  place  of  rank 
or  emolument  to  which  Court  influence  was  not  the  one  and 
only  road,  he  proceeds  to  draw  for  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
shifts  to  which  the  members  of  the  great  army  of  place-hunters 
were  put  in  the  pursuit  of  the  prey  Avliich  so  often  eluded 
their  grasp.  He  tells  us  how  the  first  object  was  to  scrape 
together  a  little  money  and  a  few  letters  of  recommendation, 
and  then  to  hurry  to  Madrid.  To  make  their  way,  armed  with 
printed  papers  setting  forth  their  liteiary  or  other  qualifications, 
into  a  minister's  cabinet,  became  the  next  object  of  desire, 
and  one  by  no  means  always  easy  of  achievement.  When  that 
Avas  obtained  it  was  but  the  prelude  to  a  long  period  of  dancing 
attendance,  keeping  up  appearances  meanwhile,  as  best  might  be, 
amid  the  costly-apparelled  habitues  of  the  Court,  bearing  the 
charges  of  moving  from  place  to  place,  as  the  monarch  was 
led  by  business  or  by  pleasure  from  palace  to  palace,  and  pay- 
ing for  the  not  unfrequent  turns  of  ill-luck  at  the  gaming- 
tables of  their  lady  patronesses,  on  means  that  day  by  day 
waxed  slighter  and  slighter.  And  again  he  sketches  the  lot 
that  awaited  such  of  the  class  as  were  members  of  the  clerical 

G  2 


20 


VELAZQUEZ. 


order,  whose  appointments  would  come,  if  they  ever  came  at  all, 
through  king  and  privy  council.  He  tells  us  how  the  houses  of 
the  councillors  became  in  consequence  their  great  resort,  and  how 
no  West  Indian  slave  was  ever  so  dependent  on  the  rod  of  his 
master  as  were  these  parasites  on  the  humours  of  the  various 
members  of  these  august  households.  There  the  Pretendiente 
was  to  be  seen  in  the  morning  relieving  the  ennui  of  the  lady  of 
the  house ;  and  there  again  no  less  surely  forming  a  part  of  the 
evening  circle,  or  making  one  at  a  game  of  "Mediator'^  without 
which  her  ladyship  would  be  more  unhappy  than  if  she  had 
missed  her  supper.  In  such  Egyptian  bondage  often  three  or 
four  years  of  life  would  have  to  be  wasted,  till  the  bright  morn- 
ing should  dawn  when  his  patron  should  be  both  willing  and  able 
to  obtain  for  him  the  first  place  on  the  list  of  three  candidates 
presented  to  the  king  at  each  vacancy.  And  so  he  would  pass 
away  to  his  distant  cathedral,  there  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his 
patience  and  perseverance,  leaving  behind  some  fresh  aspirant 
all  too  eager  to  succeed  to  his  vacant  place  in  the  round  of  petty 
servitude. 

Here  in  Premier,  Poet,  and  Pretendiente  we  have  characteristic 
samples,  but  merely  samples,  of  the  life  that  moved  beneath  the 
walls  of  the  sun-scorched  palace  of  Madrid,  trod  its  staircases,  or 
thronged  its  corridors.  It  were  an  idle  task  to  heap  up  empty 
lists  of  sounding  names,  whose  owners  were  ornaments  of  military 
or  naval  service,  filling  high  posts  in  the  Church,  or  Law,  or 
Medicine,  or  in  other  walks  of  life  shedding  lustre  on  Spain  and 
her  inetropolis.  We  may  not  even  stay  to  discuss  the  merits  of 
a  Calderon,  to  admire  the  courtly  presence  of  a  Gondomar,  or  to 
court  the  passing  smile  of  a'Medina-Celi  or  an  Alba.  Surrounded 
by  these  and  crowds  of  lesser  note,  by  dwarfs  for  pastime,  and 
liveried  lacqueys  for  his  service,  the  central  figure  of  all  this 
pomp  and  ceremony  passed  the  days  of  opening  life  that  were 
now  so  fast  hurrying  him  on  to  manhood. 


CHAPTER  III. 


1623—1629. 

AT    MADRID  PORTRAIT    OF    FONSECA  THE    FIESTA    REAL  THE 

king's    PORTRAIT — THE    SKETCH    OP    PRINCE    CHARLES  MADE 

PAINTER  TO  THE   COURT  THE  COMPETITION  MADE  USHER  OP 

THE  CHAMBER  RUBENS  THE  WATER-CARRIER  THE  TOPERS. 

INTO  the  heart  of  this  Court,  so  brilliant  and  yet  so  intellect- 
ual, this  galaxy  of  artists,  poets,  and  men  of  letters,  where 
king  and  counbillors  are  critics,  our  modest  painter  of  Seville 
now  makes  his  entry  as  it  were  per  saltiwi,  such  is  th«  uni- 
versal chorus  of  approbation  that  greets  his  first  work  in  por- 
traiture after  his  arrival  at  Madrid.  It  is  a  representation  of  his 
friend  and  protector,  Don  Jua7i  de  Fonseca,  under  whose  hos- 
pitable and  friendly  roof  he  has  been  housed  and  entertained 
since  the  time  of  his  coming  to  the  city.  This  nobleman  holds 
the  post  of  "  Usher  of  the  Curtain "  at  the  palace,  and  to  the 
palace  he  sends  the  picture  the  very  evening  it  is  finished. 

' '  Concurritur  horse 
Momento." 

There  is  a  regular  stampede  in  the  place,  king,  lords,  and 
commons  alike  hurrying  to  the  sight.  Where  royalty  leads 
there  are  sure  to  be  a  plenty  of  followers.  But  here  it  is  not  the 
mere  idle  applause  of  the  courtier  that  ensues.  A  portrait,  it  is 
true,  appeals  to  every  rank  of  life ;  it  has  something  or  other  that 
the  most  meagre  capacity  can  grasp.  But  the  royal  personage 
who  on  this  occasion  gave  the  cue  to  the  claqueurs  was  far 


22 


VELAZQUEZ. 


better  able  than  most  crowned  heads  to  pass  an  opinion  worth 
the  having  on  the  merits  of  a  work  of  art.  His  natural  bent 
was  in  the  direction  of  such  things.  He  had,  as  has  been 
already  hinted,  laboured  at  the  easel  himself.  One  of  his  pro- 
ductions had  travelled  as  far  as  Seville,  and  had  called  forth 
encomiums  from  an  art  teacher  of  the  day  there,  which,  making 
all  due  allowance  for  the  natural  tendency  in  man  not  to  speak 
evil  of  dignities,  must  have  been  proof  of  some  real  merit  in  the 
work.  The  master  of  Alonso  Cano  and  of  Velasquez  would  not 
have  stultified  the  lessons  of  his  school  by  bestowing  fulsome 
pains  on  a  tasteless,  ill-executed  daub,  however  elevated  the 
rank  of  its  author.  This  is  the  substance  of  Pacheco's  descrip- 
tion of  the  king's  handiwork. 

"  I  have  a  St.  John  Baptist  in  the  Desert,  painted  by  the 
king,  in  which  the  hairy  dress  of  the  Saint  is  rendered  with 
great  excellence  and  cleverness.  The  count  duke  sent  it  to 
Seville  in  1619,  and  a  sonnet  has  been  written  on  it  by  Don 
Juan  de  Espinosa,  which  I  here  quote — ^ 

'  Esta  es  la  Imagen  del  Mayor  Propheta,' "  &c. 

And  now  the  king  himself  is  struck  with  admiration  at  what 
Pacheco's  pupil  can  do.  This  young  Sevillan  to  have  painted 
such  a  portrait  as  that !  Spain  has  indeed  then  produced  a  true 
artist,  nor  must  royalty  lose  sight  of  him. 

The  Cardinal  Infante,  Don  Fernando,  the  son  of  whose 
chamberlain  the  Count  of  Peiiaranda  had  been  the  emissary 
employed  to  convey  this  notable  picture  to  the  palace,  at  once 
gave  the  artist  a  commission  for  a  portrait  of  himself.  It  was  a 
delicate  flattery  to  the  occupant  of  the  throne  to  avoid  comply- 
ing with  this  order  till  such  time  as  the  features  of  Philip  him- 
self should  have  been  limned.  By  what  various  shifts  and 
devices  so  difficult  a  task  was  performed  without  giving  offence 
we  can  but  imagine.  Our  youthful  artist  had,  however,  friends 
of  great  weight  at  Court,  and  friends  not  merely  powerful  but 
^  Pacheco,  '  Arte  de  La  Pintura,'  p.  113. 


THE  WATER-CARRIER  OF  SEVILLE. 

Hv  Velazquez 
In  the  posM'jsii'"  uf  the  Dukf  of  lVellingto>i 


AT  MADRID. 


23 


bent  on  using  their  iuflaence  for  liim,  and  on  making  the  career 
of  their  fellow-Andalucian  a  success.  Doubtless  he  was  safely- 
steered  by  them  tlirough  the  mazy  windings  of  a  courtier's  duty. 

We  are  not  left  any  very  definite  particulars  of  the  way  in 
which  Velazquez  occupied  himself  just  at  this  period.  His 
home  was  still  as  heretofore  under  Fonseca's  friendly  roof. 
As  the  same  resolution  which  debarred  him  from  painting  a 
likeness  of  the  Infante  must  have  prevented  his  exercising  his 
art  in  that  way  for  any  private  person,  he  was  probaldy  engaged 
in  making  studies  and  renewing  his  acquaintance  with  those 
masterpieces  of  art  around  him  at  Madrid,  or  away  at  the 
Escorial,  with  which  he  had  become  familiarised  to  some  extent 
the  previous  year.  There  were  introductions  to  be  made,  and 
civilities  to  be  interchanged  with  those  men  of  mark  in  the 
literary  and  artistic  world  with  whom  Pacheco  was  on  terms  of 
intimacy.  Above  all,  there  were  the  ways  of  the  metropolis  to 
be  still  further  studied,  and  peculiarities  of  accent,  idiom,  or 
manner  to  be  rubbed  off,  while  the  roughnesses  of  the  Bordelais 
were  being  exchanged  for  the  elegance  of  the  true  Parisian.  He 
would  be  eagerly  taking,  too,  a  countryman's  share  of  the  city 
gaieties  which  were  so  prominent  a  feature  in  the  "  round  of 
pleasure  "  with  which  the  illustrious  candidate  for  the  hand  of 
Dona  Maria  was  being  daily  honoured. 

For  as  at  Madrid  at  this  time  the  hours  glided  away,  and  day 
followed  on  day,  nought  was  spared  that  could  urge  the  nimble- 
footed  steeds  of  Time  to  hurry  post-haste  along  their  course. 
Each  morning  brought  fresh  changes  and  relaxations,  fresh  gaieties 
and  amusements.  Now  a  State  levee  claimed  its  own,  with  the 
comings  and  goings  of  dukes  and  sefiors,  of  functionaries  eccle- 
siastical and  civil,  with  the  rustle  of  eastern  silks  and  rich 
brocades,  with  the  gleam  of  gold  and  the  flash  of  the  diamonds 
of  Golconda.  Anon  there  would  succeed  some  grand  Church 
Function,  bringing  as  much  pleasure  as  the  lighter  ceremonials  in 
its  display  of  court  costumes  and  archiepiscopal  splendours,  and 


24 


VELAZQUEZ. 


in  the  half  faith  that  rejoices  to  have  made  concessions  where 
it  believes  concessions  will  at  least  secure  reprieve.  Now  was 
organised  some  State  hunting-party,  with  princely  array  of 
huntsmen  and  royal  guards ;  and,  for  the  great  ladies  of  the 
Court,  carriages  of  costly  and  varied  magnificence.  Now  there  are 
recitations  of  poems  composed  for  some  royal  competition ;  now 
music  rules,  and  the  tender  notes  of  the  guitar  are  heard  dying 
away  in  the  vaulting  of  the  vast  saloons  ;  or  again  the  theatre 
throws  back  its  doors  and  is  filled  by  a  glittering  audience,  all 
eager  to  witness  the  performance  of  the  last  new  production  of 
the  Castilian  muse.  A  brighter  morning  than  all  others,  a  dawn 
more  dear  to  the  inmost  heart  of  Spain,  is  that  which  breaks  to 
usher  in  the  joys  of  the  long-expected  Fiesta  Keal.  As  the 
whole  country  scents  from  afar  the  sweet  savour  of  her  sacrificial 
bulls,  her  noblest  Caballeros,  armed  with  the  solitary  weapon  of 
the  Eejon,  will  be  risking  their  lives  in  the  murderous  tourney. 
The  scene  is  the  Plaza  Mayor  at  Madrid.  There  in  the  burning 
August  day,  in  his  shaded  balcony,  is  seated  the  king  in  State, 
his  beauteous  queen  beside  hini ;  and  there  beside  him  too,  the 
object  of  such  mingled  hopes  and  fears  in  far-off  England,  his 
royal  sister,  the  Infanta,  in  robes  of  dazzling  whiteness  and 
ribbons  of  garter-blue,  to  do  all  honour  to  him  who  may  yet 
some  day  be  her  lord.  His  proper  seat  of  State  alongside  is 
filled  by  the  heir  of  England's  crown,  eager  enough  to  view  a 
sport  so  new  and  strange,^  while  with  careful  precedence  are 
marshalled  into  other  loggie  on  the  Court  side  of  the  huge 
amphitheatre,  a  Buckingham,  a  Digby,  and  a  Porter  ;  an  Olivarez, 
a  Medina  de  las  Torres,  and  a  Yaldivielso ;  viceroy,  ambassador, 
and  nuncio. 

All  eyes  are  turned  upon  this  brilliant  company  until,  and 
but  until,  the  bull  is  once  let  slip.    He  conies  at  last  advancing 

1  Something  of  the  kind  did  exist  in  England,  Constanza,  daughter  of 
John  of  Gaunt,  having  established  a  "  Bull-running"  at  Tutbury,  but  it  is 
highly  improbable  that  the  prince  had  ever  seen  it. 


THE  FIESTA  REAL. 


25 


qnietly,  and  yet  proudly,  a  magnificent  specimen  of  his  race, 
into  the  heart  of  the  arena — 

"  His  horns  stand  close  and  near, 
From  out  the  broad  and  wrinkled  skull  like  daggers  they  appear." 

He  has  no  consciousness  of  anything  there  of  more  worth  than 
himself.  The  gaze  of  the  crowd  is  in  harmony  with  such  a 
belief.  They  know  nothing,  see  nothing,  but  their  one  Egyptian 
deity.  He  falls  amid  fell  havoc  of  his  vanquishers.  His 
slaughter  is  but  the  prelude  to  the  coming  forth  of  another 
victim.  Again  there  is  a  struggle  for  dear  lite  on  the  part  of 
his  assailants  ere  yet  the  scale  of  victory  turns,  and  the  sands 
of  the  arena  run  purple  with  his  life-blood.  His  day  is  done, 
but  the  thirst  for  the  deadly  excitement  is  unquenched. 

Anon  a  rarer  sight  is  seen.  Not  unmindful  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  past,  of  the  conflict  at  Valladolid  where  his  great 
ancestor  had  faced  the  bull  in  person,  or  of  the  honour  paid  by 
his  father  to  an  English  noble  in  the  slaughter  of  a  mighty  holo- 
caust of  stalwart  steers  with  lavish  outpouring  of  his  subjects' 
blood — the  present  king  will  have  this  Fiesta  graced  by  some 
new  and  unheard-of  marvel.  But  this  must  be  told  in  the 
author's  own  words — 

"  Therefore,  after  three  bulls  had  been  killed  and  the  fourth  a 
coming  forth,  there  appeared  four  gentlemen  in  good  equipage  ; 
not  long  after  a  brisk  lady  in  most  gorgeous  apparel,  attended 
with  persons  of  quality,  and  some  three  or  four  grooms,  walked 
all  along  the  square  a-foot.  Astonishment  seized  upon  the 
beholders  that  one  of  the  female  sex  could  assume  the  unheard 
boldness  of  exposing  herself  to  the  violence  of  the  most  furious 
beast  yet  seen,  which  had  overcome,  yea,  almost  killed,  two  men 
of  great  strength,  courage,  and  dexterity.  Incontinently  the 
bull  rushed  towards  the  corner  where  the  lady  and  her  attend- 
ants stood.  She  (after  all  had  fled)  drew  forth  her  dagger  very 
unconcernedly,  and  thrust  it  most  dexterously  into  the  bull's 
neck,  having  catched  hold  of  his  horn  :  by  which  stroak,  with- 


26 


VELAZQUEZ. 


out  any  more  trouble,  her  desiga  was  brought  to  perfection ; 
after  which,  turning  about  towards  the  king's  balcony,  she  made 
her  obeysance,  and  withdrew  herself  in  suitable  state  and 
gravity."  ^ 

But  even  amidst  such  scenes  there  had  come  at  intervals 
moments  for  serious  work.  The  king,  whose  scant  leisure  from 
the  claims  of  all  these  festive  duties  must  have  been  to  some 
extent  specially  curtailed  by  the  pressing  need  of  business 
conferences  touching  the  elevation  of  a  new  candidate  to  the 
Papal  chair,'^  had  been  able  at  last  to  honour  the  painter  with 
sittings.  Doubtless  they  were  spasmodic  and  irn^gular.  The 
first  royal  portrait,  so  long  the  object  of  the  painter's  desires, 
grew,  however,  into  being  at  last,  and  the  30  th  of  August 
saw  it  completed.  Everybody  was  charmed  with  it.  There 
Avere  nothing  but  encomiums  from  the  whole  court.  The  Infantes 
and  the  Premier  Duke  joined  L)udly  in  the  chorus,  the  latter, 
perhaps  not  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  artistic  Madrilenas 
of  the  day,  declaring  roundly  that  "  the  king's  portrait  had 
never  been  painted  before." 

We  think  there  are  sufficient  grounds  for  tlie  opinion  that 
this  first  likeness  of  the  monarch,  the  firm  foundation-stone  on 
which  the  stately  edifice  of  the  painter's  fortunes  was  to  rise, 
though  possibly  a  full-length  figure,  was  most  probably  nothing 
more  than  a  bust,  though  it  is  true  that  Sir  Stirling-Maxwell 
and  other  writers  have  supposed  this  picture  to  have  been  the 
one  publicly  exhibited  in  the  open  streets  to  the  wondering  gaze 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Madrid.  Pacheco,  whose  authority  cer- 
tainly is  superior  to  any  other,  tells  us,  among  other  things,  that 
Velazquez  had  an  attack  of  illness,  during  wliich  he  was  attended 
by  the  royal  physician,  and  he  seems  to  regard  this  attack  as  an 
event  that  occurred  subsequently  to  the  arrangement  made  by 

1  Salgado.  Quoted  by  Ford  in  Q.  R.  1838.  It  is  there  also  mentioned 
that  the  lady  was  a  man  disguised  as  a  female. 

2  Gregory  XV.  died  on  the  6th  July,  16'2.3. 


THE  SKETCH  OF  PRINCE  CHARLES. 


27 


the  Count  Duke  in  October  of  the  year  1623,  of  which  we  shall 
presently  speak.  The  story  of  the  portrait  that  Avas  publicly 
exhibited,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  an  equestrian  one, 
follows  later  in  his  narrative.  This  view  would  harmonise  with 
the  reference  in  Cean  Bermudez's  work  to  an  equestrian  portrait 
of  the  king  painted  recently  after  his  return  from  Seville,  the 
royal  progress  to  Seville  having  been  made  in  1624. 

And  now  what  has  become  of  the  sketch  of  our  English 
prince  that  the  painter  produced  at  this  time  —  of  the  "  Bos- 
quexo  "  (such  is  the  term  employed  in  the  technical  language  of 
Spanish  art  for  an  unfinished  picture)  mentioned  in  the  Arte  de 
la  Pintura  1  Was  it  cast  aside  as  worthless  there  and  then,  as 
soon  as  the  departure  of  the  Prince  rendered  its  completion  only 
a  remote  possibility]  or  was  it  stored  up  in  lavender  till  the 
wave  of  a  more  settled  affection  should  waft  back  the  heir  of 
England's  crown  to  the  shores  of  Spain  and  to  the  feet  of  her 
Infanta  1  Was  it  taken  home  to  England  in  its  unfinished  state 
"  for  what  it  was  worth  "  1  As  to  this  sketch  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  precisely  the  date  at  which  Velazquez  was  at  work 
upon  it.  That  he  would  not  complete  it  before  he  had  com- 
pleted the  picture  of  the  king  we  may  fairly  assume.  Nor  is  it 
likely  that  he  had  the  two  in  hand  at  once,  for  the  same 
ceremonies  that  demanded  the  king's  presence  would  have  also 
claimed  that  of  Prince  Charles,  and  the  leisure  moments  of  the 
host  would  have  been  contemporaneous  with  those  of  the  guest. 
If  he  did  not  begin  it  till  the  opening  of  September,  the  paint- 
ing could  not  have  advanced  very  far;  for  upon  the  13th  of 
that  month  ^  the  royal  traveller  was  away  from  Madrid,  and 
admiring  the  quarterings  of  the  arms  of  England  on  the  shield 
of  Philip  II,  of  Spain,  in  the  turreted  castle  of  Segovia,  while 
waiting  for  such  time  as  that  supper  should  be  announced  at 
which  the  hospitable  Alcaide  regaled  him  with  "certaine  fronts 
of  extraordinary  greatnesse."     The  fair  flowing  Eresma  that 

*  The  date  here  given  is  the  Spanish  date. 


28 


VELAZQUEZ. 


washed  the  castle  walls  had  rendered  noble  tribute  for  that  fast 
day.  Eight  days  later  he  arrived  at  the  harbour  of  Santander, 
where  lay  the  vessel  that  was  to  bear  him  home  to  Portsmouth. 

It  may  be  that  the  accident  of  the  future  may  yet  unearth 
this  sketchy  canvas.  A  good  deal  of  printing  has  been  spent  on 
the  endeavour  to  prove  that  it  was  already  discovered,  and  was 
on  view  at  Eeading.  But  the  authorities  have  put  their  veto  on 
such  claims.  1 

Our  Prince,  however,  like  a  true  Briton,  did  not,  sudden  as 
his  departure  was,  forget  his  proper  share  in  the  transaction,  and 
a  hundred  crowns  of  the  monies  of  old  England  filtered  through 
a  Spanish  medium,  shaped  into  foreign  semblance,  that  is,  by 
exchange  for  the  products  of  the  Casa  de  Moneda,  fell  to  the 
artist  for  the  service  so  far  rendered  ; — "  relevantes  pruebas  de 
aprecio,"  as  Don  Pedro  de  Madrazo  terms  them. 

It  was  in  October  of  this  year  that  there  issued  one  of  those 
warrants  iinder  the  king's  hand  that  appear  to  have  been  so 
greatly  affectioued  by  mauy  of  the  Spaniards  of  that  time  as  to 
have  been  almost  regarded  as  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  existence. 
By  the  terms  of  this  document  our  painter  became  a  salaried 
official,  permanently  attached  to  the  Court.  The  payment 
which  it  secured  to  him  (the  appointment  was  held  on  interpret- 
ation to  imply  the  additional  advantages  of  definite  and  separate 
payments  for  any  woiks  he  might  execute,  as  well  as  medical 
attendance  and  medicine  at  the  royal  charge),  a  fixed  stipend  of 
twenty  ducats  a  month,  was  by  no  means  unsatisfactory,  and 
even  this  does  not  seem  to  be  quite  the  whole  of  the  story ;  for 
though  Pacheco  makes  no  mention  of  any  earlier  emolument,  we 
have  the  authority  of  the  careful  Bermudez  for  the  existence  of 
a  grant  providing  a  salary  of  the  same  amount  in  the  previous 
April.    If  the  document  Bermudez  quotes  ever  really  existed''^ 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  B. 
The  language  of  the  two  documents  is  practically  identical,  and,  as 
they  both  bear  date  the  6th  of  the  month,  it  would  seem  just  possible  that 
there  was  a  clerical  error  in  some  transcript  of  Bernmdez's  note. 


EQUESTRIAN  PORTRAIT  OF  PHILIP  IV. 


29 


it  would  be  matter  for  inquiry  whether  this  April  document  was 
issued  in  that  month,  or  whether,  in  point  of  fact,  it  did  not 
first  come  into  being  in  October,  being  antedated  to  cover  a  pay- 
ment that  would  thus  run  over  the  earlier  six  months.  Had  any 
formal  appointment  been  made  in  April,  it  is  not  easy  to  see 
why  a  new  patent  should  have  been  necessary  in  October. 

It  would  appear  to  have  been  somewhere  about  this  autumn, 
too,  that  Velazquez  received  instructions  from  his  friend  and 
patron,  that  most  potent  senor  the  Conde-Duque  de  Olivarez,  to 
remove  to  Madrid  en 'permanencp. ;  and  we  may  therefore  picture 
to  ourselves  the  painter  for  the  third  time  in  his  life  travelling 
over  the  picturesque  route  between  Seville  and  the  capital.  But 
this  time  he  is  the  head  of  the  party,  and  the  little  procession 
has  assurued  more  extensive  proportions.  There  may  be  seen 
his  wife  Juana  and  his  children,  and  there  too  sundry  further 
sumpter-mules,  bearing  Lares  and  Penates,  and  all  the  most 
valued  treasures  of  the  old  home  at  Seville — a  journey  probably 
undertaken  at  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  custom  bade  Spanish 
monarchs  withdraw  to  the  suburban  palace  of  the  Escorial, 
nominally  for  purposes  of  religious  retirement  and  seclusion. 

The  triumph  we  have  next  recorded  is  his  successful  painting 
of  the  king  on  his  royal  steed.  This  was  a  work  executed 
entirely  from  nature,  even  to  the  landscape  that  formed  the 
background,  and  consequently  must  have  been  a  labour  of  some 
considerable  time.  The  monarcli  evinced  the  liveliest  satisfaction 
at  the  result,  and — besides  granting  certain  solid  remuneration  ^ 
to  the  fortunate  artist,  who  also  from  this  time  forth  M'as  to  have 
an  exclusive  monopoly  of  limning  those  august  features — forth- 
with ordered  a  public  exhibition  of  the  work.  In  the  open  street 
over  against  the  Church  of  San  Felipe  el  Keal  the  painting  was 
accordingly  exposed  to  view,  and  thither  flocked  from  far  and 
wide  the  lords  and  commons  of  the  vast  city.    "There  in  the 

1  A  present  of  three  hundred  ducats  down,  a  permanent  pension  of  a 
like  amount,  and  a  grant  of  a  residence  in  the  palace. 


30 


VELAZQUEZ. 


open  air  did  Velazquez,  like  the  painters  of  Greece,  listen  to  the 
praises  of  a  delighted  public."  '  Pacheco  was  still  in  Madrid, 
watching  over  the  fortunes  of  his  pupil  and  his  daughter  ;  and 
the  spirit  of  the  sister  Muse  of  her  at  whose  shrine  it  was  his 
lifelong  duty  to  worship,  for  the  moment  seized  him,  a  prey  to 
the  general  enthusiasm,  and  he  broke  out  into  a  sonnet  of 
encouraging  praise.  A  most  pardonable  outburst,  and  one  quite 
in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Other  authors  laid  a 
similar  tribute  at  the  feet  of  the  painter — or  of  the  golden  image. 
It  was  a  monarch  who  knew  how  to  be  liberal  that  was  prancing 
on  that  fiery  steed. 

Although  there  is  now  no  known  portrait  existing  that  would 
correspond  to  the  one  of  which  we  have  these  interesting  details,'^ 
yet  Don  Pedro  de  Madrazo,  who  has  devoted  so  much  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  records  of  the  past  history  of  the  Eoyal  Galleries  of 
Spain,  has  found  traces  of  an  entry  in  an  early  catalogue,  refer- 
ring to  a  portrait  of  the  king  in  early  youth  on  horseback  (El 
Ee  Mozo  a  caballo).  Such  a  picture  hung  originally  in  the  Casa 
del  Tesoro  of  the  Royal  Palace,  but  there  has  been  no  notice  of 
it  since  the  days  of  Carlos  II.  This  is  only  one  of  numerous 
instances  of  missing  paintings.  Ignorance,  accident,  outbreaks 
of  fire,  wilful  theft,  have  each  and  all  contributed  their  quota  to 
swell  the  list  of  losses. 

Prolific  in  competitive  examinations,  the  nineteenth  century 
has  yet  no  patent  rights  therein.  Earlier  times  can  also  claim  to 
have  furnished  their  contingent  of  such  struggles.  It  pleased  King 
Pliilip  to  summon  the  members  of  the  artistic  guild  into  the  arena. 
They  should  paint  in  desperate  rivalry.  He  himself  will  choose 
the  subject.  It  shall  be  the  Expulsion  of  IIlb  Moors,  that  marked 
event  of  his  father's  reign.  Judges  are  duly  named  in  the  persons 

1  Ford. 

^  There  is  at  Grripsholm,  in  Sweden,  a  small  equestrian  portrait  of  Philip 
IV.  which  was  presented  to  Queen  Christina  by  the  Spanish  Ambassador, 
Pimental,  and  which  Sir  Stirling  Maxwell  thinks  may  be  a  repUca  of  this 
celebrated  work. 


THE  COMPETITION. 


31 


of  Juan  Baptista  Crecencio  and  Juan  Baptista  Maino,  the  latter 
a  marquis  and  of  the  Order  of  St.  lago,  tlie  former  a  friar  and 
of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic.  Put  fortli  all  your  powers,  brace 
every  muscle,  strain  every  nerve,  ye  heroes  of  the  palette  and  the 
brush,  for  fortune,  wealth,  and  fame,  are  trembling  in  the  balance ! 

Among  those  who  enter  the  lists  are  to  be  found  Eugenio 
Caxes,  a  Court  painter  of  no  mean  capacity,  and  one  who  has 
held  a  leading  position  among  tlie  artists  at  the  capital  since  his 
appointment  to  that  coveted  office  some  fifteen  years  ago.  The 
audience-hall  of  tlie  Pardo  owes  its  decoration  to  his  skilful 
brush.  The  credit  of  his  name  carries  still  further  weight  from 
the  remembrance  of  the  services  of  his  father  Patrizio  at  the  Court 
of  Philip  II.  There  too  is  Angelo  Nardi,  with  Avhom  the  contest 
would  seem  to  be  on  somewhat  more  equal  terms.  He  is  a 
Florentine,  and  had  doubtless  been  attracted  to  the  Spanish 
capital  by  the  favourable  reports  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  It 
is  no  new  thing  for  Italian  artists  to  find  their  way  so  far 
westward:  even  the  gentler  sex  have  ere  this  been  tempted  to 
quit  their  home  beyond  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  ^  in 
search  of  a  wider  field  for  their  talents,  amid  the  wealth  and 
munificence  of  Spanish  houses,  A  third  competitor,  and  he 
most  formidable  of  all,  is  Yincencio  Carducho,  another  of  those 
foreign  artists  for  whom  the  Spanish  Court  has  proved  an  attract- 
ive sphere.  It  is  nearly  forty  years  now  since  he  quitted  his 
native  Florence.  Not  merely  a  dexterous  handicraftsman  in  his 
own  piofession,  he  aspires  to  the  honours  of  an  author,  and  will 
be  hereafter  known  to  the  literary  world  by  his  '  Dialogues  on 
Art.'  He  works  in  the  manner  of  Caravaggio,  but  at  this  time, 
whatever  his  skill,  and  it  is  great ;  whatever  his  style,  and  it  is 
one  well-pleasing  to  the  eyes  around  him  ;  he  is  destined  to  be 
worsted — so  brilliant  a  star  has  arisen  on  the  horizon  of  Spanish 
Art. 

^  Sofonisba  Anguisciola  of  Cremona  came  to  Spain,  under  the  escort  of 
the  Duke  of  Alba,  in  the  time  of  Philip  II. — Carducho  ;  '  Dialogos.' 


32 


VELAZQUEZ. 


The  day  of  trial  at  last  arrives.  The  judges  meet  in  solemn 
conclave.  With  the  efforts  of  the  rival  artists  ranged  before 
them,  they  examine,  criticise,  and  decide.  The  verdict  is  tri- 
umphantly in  favour  of  Velazquez. 

Of  this  great  work  of  the  painter  there  remains  to  us  now 
nothing  but  the  description  in  the  pnges  of  Palomino.  The  event, 
of  which  it  was  intended  to  be  a  permanent  record,  future  ages 
have  with  reason  regarded  as  a  blot  on  the  escutcheon  of  the 
country.  The  determination  to  expel  the  most  industrious  popu- 
lation of  all  his  southern  dominions,  had  been  arrived  at  by  the 
late  king  under  the  frequent  promptings  of  priestly  intolerance. 
Where  any  possible  way  lay  open  to  the  extirpation  of  the 
professors  of  a  different  creed,  it  was  not  in  the  mind  of  the 
Spanish  ecclesiastic  to  dream  of  pardon  for  differences  in  faith. 
The  Moors  were  an  obstinate  race,"  would  not  take  kindly  to 
the  mass,  and  must  go.  Some  were  sold  into  slavery,  some  sent 
to  the  galleys.  A  number  not  far  short  of  half  a  million  were 
ousted  from  their  liomes  and  driven  forth  beyond  the  confines  of 
the  country. 

But  to  return  to  Velazquez.  Henceforth  his  position  became 
more  assured  than  ever.  He  was  rewarded  by  the  king  with  the 
post  of  "  Usher  of  the  Royal  Chamber,"  a  post  which  brought 
its  fortunate  possessor  into  close  and  frequent  contact  with 
royalty,  and  might,  therefore,  well  be  one  eagerly  coveted. 
."Neither  were  the  pecuniary  emoluments  which  it  entailed  despic- 
able. It  was  not  an  unsalaried  office,  and  to  Velazquez  there 
came  with  it  as  well  the  right  to  the  twelve  reals  a  day  granted 
as  maintenance-money  to  many  Court  officials,  and  a  sum  of 
money  down,  probably  a  handsome  amount.^ 

It  will  be  interesting  while  on  the  subject  of  the  emoluments 
which  rewarded  Velazquez's  toil  to  compare  the  character  of  the 

1  These  lumps  of  bakshish  were  quite  the  customary  thing.  They  were 
issued  under  the  title  of  "  Ayuda  de  Costa  " — "something  towards  one's 
expenses,"  and  were  frequently  applied  for. 


PAYMENT  TO  ARTISTS. 


33 


payments  made  to  artists  in  other  countries  during  the  same 
century.  Summoned  by  Colbert  to  the  Court  of  the  Grand 
Monarque,  the  painter  Van  der  Meulen,  whose  facile  hand  gave 
life  and  energy  to  his  royal  master's  figure  amid  so  many  scenes 
of  military  prowess,  besides  being  paid  for  his  works,  enjoyed  a 
retaining  salary  of  2000  francs  per  annum.  Protected  by  a 
similar  proviso,  the  great  Yan  Dyck  received  from  the  hands  of 
Charles  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  by  way  of  pension. 
The  extract  which  here  follows  explains  the  practice  in  the 
reign  of  Charles's  heir  : — 

"  Charles  the  Second  by  the  Grace  of  God,  &c.,  to  our  dear 
"  cousin  Prince  Eupert,  and  the  rest  of  our  Commissioners  for 
"  executing  the  place  of  Lord  Admiral  of  England,  greeting. 
"  Whereas  we  have  thought  fitt  to  allow  the  salary  of  one  hundred 
"  pounds  per  annum  unto  William  Vandevelde  the  elder  for 
"  taking  and  making  draughts  of  sea-fights,  and  the  like  salary  of 
"  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum  unto  William  Vandevelde  the 
"  younger  for  putting  the  said  draughts  into  colours  for  our 
"particular  use,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do  hereby 
"  authorise  and  require  you  to  issue  your  orders  for  the  present 
"  and  future  establishment  of  the  said  salaries  to  the  aforesaid 

William  Vandevelde  the  elder  and  William  Vandevelde  the 
"  younger,  to  be  paid  unto  them  and  either  of  them  during  our 
"  will  and  pleasure,  and  for  so  doing  these  our  letters  shall  be 
"  your  sufficient  warrant  and  discharge. 

"  Given  under  our  Privy  Seal  at  our  pallace  of  Westminster 
"  the  20th  day  of  February  in  the  26th  year  of  our  reign," 

Established  then  firmly  at  the  Court,  and  brought  into  constant 
and  friendly  relationship  with  the  king,  no  wonder  that,  on  the 
arrival  of  a  distinguished  foreigner  whose  fame  as  an  artist  was  well 
known,  though  the  immediate  cause  of  his  visit  was  of  a  political 
and  not  of  an  artistic  nature,  it  was  Velazquez  to  whose  lot  it  fell 
to  do  the  honours  of  the  galleries,  Peter  Paul  Eubens,  for  this 
new  visitor  was  none  other  than  he,  appeared  upon  the  scene  in 

Y  D 


34 


VELAZQUEZ. 


the  early  autumn  of  1628.  While  at  Madrid  he  confined  his 
artistic  acquaintance  there  almost  entirely  to  this  single  friend. 
Together  they  visited  the  Escorial,  and  well  may  we  imagine  the 
mutual  pleasure  they  found  in  one  another's  company  amidst 
such  noble  specimens  of  art  as  the  walls  of  that  princely  treasure- 
house  could  boast. 

Rubens  was  not  then  for  the  first  time  visiting  Spain.  He 
had  seen  something  of  that  country  on  a  former  occasion,  but 
had,  it  is  believed,  left  the  Escorial  hitherto  unvisited.  Five- 
and-twenty  years  ago,  at  the  bidding  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua, 
he  had  crossed  the  Mediterranean  and  encountered  the  rough- 
nesses of  Spanish  roads  beneath  tempestuous  skies  on  a  journey 
across  the  country  from  the  coast  to  the  city  of  Valladolid.  His 
mission  then,  too,  had  been  of  a  mixed  character.  Primarily  he 
travelled  for  the  purpose  of  superintending  the  conveyance  of 
sundry  gifts  from  the  Mantuan  Court  to  the  Spaidsli  king  and 
to  certain  of  his  nobles.  Among  these  gifts  was  a  selection  of 
Italian  paintings  destined  to  please  the  eye  and  secure  the 
friendship  of  the  minister  Lerma,  then  in  the  full  tide  of  his 
power.  Of  this  part  of  his  commission  the  painter  had  acquitted 
himself  right  cleverly,  restoring  in  an  exceedingly  short  space  of 
time  to  a  condition  in  which  they  passed  muster  and  gave  every 
satisfaction  when  presented,  a  whole  cargo  of  pictures,  which 
had  been  almost  ruined  by  the  soaking  rains.  The  further 
avowed  object  of  his  journey  was,  that  he  might  execute  some 
portraits  for  his  patron ;  but  it  was  probably  also  intended  that 
he  should,  if  wished,  also  work  for  the  Spanish  king — the  Duke 
letting  him  out  on  loan — a  Hiram  at  the  disposal  of  a  modern 
Solomon. 

But  now  the  years  have  rolled  by  and  brought  in  their  train 
greater  afflu(?nce,  greater  worldly  position,  greater  technical  skill. 
The  Mantuan  Court  has  been  exchanged  for  the  independence  of 
a  private  home — a  costly  mansion  replete  with  every  comfort — in 
the  far  north.    Eesidence  at  the  northern  home  has  been  varied 


RUBENS  AND  BUCKINGHAM. 


35 


by  months  spent  amid  the  cities  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  or 
at  the  brilliant  Court  of  Paris.  His  handsome  person,  his  courtly 
bearing,  his  talents  alike  for  speech  or  silence,  have  raised  him 
high  in  the  estimation  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  who  had 
known  his  name  in  earlier  times  simply  as  that  of  a  painter  of 
repute.  Yilliers  the  great  Duke  of  Buckingham  has  sought  him 
out.  At  Paris  he  has  given  him  work  at  painting,  and  has  paid 
him  with  a  lavish  hand.  Sitting  for  his  portrait,  the  Duke  has 
seized  the  opportunity  for  conversation.  He  and  the  painter 
have  both  their  Spanish  reminiscences.  In  some  points  they 
find  one  another  singularly  like-minded.  "  What  does  Rubens 
think  of  their  painters  1 "  "  Incredibly  careless, — utterly  devoid 
of  power, — at  least  those  whom  he  came  across."  "  An  estimate 
true  enough  1  But  there  is  a  man  at  Madrid  now  who  can  really 
handle  a  brush  to  some  purpose,  and  besides,  though  young,  he 
is  a  man  of  parts,  and  well  worth  knowing.  "Will  not  Eubens 
write  to  him  1  It  will  be  well  for  him  to  have  an  acquaintance 
of  his  own  profession  at  Madrid,  on  whose  opinion  he  can  rely. 
The  man  too  is  high  in  the  king's  favour  there,  and  so  knows  all 
that  goes  on  at  Court.  If  Rubens  writes  he  has  only  to  say  that 
he  has  heard  of  him  from  the  Duke,  to  be  sure  of  his  letter 
meeting  with  a  ready  reception."'  Then  the  conversation  turns 
on  other  points.  The  present  state  of  affairs  under  the  sway  of 
the  Archduchess,  the  aspect  of  the  future  when  England  and 
France  combine,  these  and  cognate  questions  form  an  excellent 
means  of  eliciting  the  political  views  of  the  Fleming.  The 
intimacy  once  formed,  a  later  date  finds  the  ties  between  the 
two  drawn  more  closely  by  the  offer  on  the  Duke's  part  to  pur- 
chase for  £10,000  the  painter's  Antwerp  collection.    And  so, 

^  That  Rubens  owed  his  knowledge  of  Velazquez  to  Buckingham  is 
purely  conjectural ;  hut  Pacheco,  writing  as  it  seems  in  IG31,  distinctly 
traces  the  origin  of  the  selection  of  Rubens  for  this  diplomatic  mission  to 
his  intimacy  with  el  Duque  de  Boquingan.  It  is  also  on  record  that  Rubens 
had  written  to  Velazquez  before  ever  they  met  in  Spain. 

D  2 


36 


VELAZQUEZ. 


when,  a  year  or  two  later  still,  Eubens  is  despatched  to  the 
Spanish  Court  from  Brussels  to  lay  before  the  king  and  Junta 
letters  which  have  come  to  him  from  Buckingham's  emissaries 
touching  a  peace  with  England/  much  has  to  be  hoped  from  the 
selection  of  such  an  envoy.  To  Madrid  comes  from  England 
also,  bound  on  the  same  peaceful  errand,  Endymion  Porter, 
himself  likewise  a  partisan  of  Yilliers's  views.  The  painter- 
diplomatist  arrived,  the  Junta  at  once  proceeds  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject.  Upon  its  deliberations  breaks  in  the 
startling  news  that  Buckingham  has  fallen  beneath  the  blow  of 
the  assassin's  dagger.  The  foe  whom  Olivarez  has  so  long  been 
bent  on  thwarting  is  now  no  more.  The  standing  obstacle  to 
the  minister's  consent  to  peace  is  removed ;  but  the  matter 
cannot  be  decided  off-hand.  Some  proof  is  needed  that  the 
English  king  is  also  at  heart  desirous  of  a  reconciliation.  To 
get  this  proof  is  a  work  of  time,  but  presently  it  is  obtained. 
More  weeks  are  spent  in  consultation  and  debate,  but  at  length 
a  line  of  policy  is  clearly  sketched.  Some  emissary  must  now  be 
sent  to  England.  Who  knows  so  much  of  the  intricacies  of  the 
question,  and  of  the  views  of  Spain,  and  the  rule  of  her  Flemish 
provinces,  as  Eubens?  On  him  the  choice  falls.  Receiving  from 
the  king's  hands  the  appointment  of  secretary  to  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil of  the  Court  of  Brussels,  he  hastens  thither  for  final  conference 
with  the  Archduchess  before  passing  on  to  the  English  Court. 

But  all  this  Spanish  business  has  swallowed  up  a  space  of 
some  nine  months,  for  it  is  April  of  1629  before  he  leaves. 
How  has  the  Fleming  employed  such  leisure  as  those  months 
have  spared  him  1 

Neither  the  business  nor  the  labours  of  the  artist's  life  have 
been  allowed  to  suffer  from  the  union  of  the  two  characters  of 
diplomatist  and  painter.    Eight  pictures  he  has  brought  with 

^  For  the  details  of  these  circumstances  reference  may  advantageously 
be  made  to  Mr.  Rett's  '  Rubens,'  London,  1880— a  work  to  which  we  are 
indebted  for  much  of  what  is  here  stated  about  Rubens. 


RUBENS  AT  MADRID. 


37 


him  are  sold  to  tlie  king  for  upwards  of  6000  ducats,  and  hung 
amid  fitting  company  in  the  new  hall.  Then  begins  the  work 
with  the  brush.  Portraits  of  the  king  and  royal  family  start 
into  being  to  go  to  Flanders.  For  home  consumption  three  other 
portraits  of  the  king  are  made,  as  well  as  a  larger  one  pourtraying 
him  on  horseback.  N"or  is  this  enough  for  the  rapid  and  indefatig- 
able toiler.  All  the  Titians  in  the  royal  collection,  and  they  are 
numerous,  are  next  attacked  and  copies  made  of  them.  The 
same  course  is  followed  with  sundry  portraits  and  works  in  other 
collections.  Various  Spaniards  of  note  sit  to  him.  One  of  his 
old  works  in  the  palace  is  rearranged  in  the  liglit  of  his  better 
knowledge.  A  portrait  is  painted  of  the  Infanta  de  las  Descalzas. 
Other  works  run  the  estimated  number  to  a  total  exceeding  forty 
pictures,  executed  in  these  brief  months.  Nor  was  there  any 
neglect  of  his  diplomatic  functions.  He  was  ever  at  the  call  of 
the  Council  or  the  Minister,  not  forgetting  the  ordinary  duties 
of  a  courtier — associating  himself  with  those  about  the  palace,  a 
universal  favourite.  As  on  his  first  visit  his  own  wonder  had 
been  aroused  at  the  unexpected  nuniber  and  excellence  of  the 
works  by  foreign  artists  with  which  Sj)ain  had  enriched  herself ; 
so  at  his  departure  he  left  no  less  a  sui-prise  for  the  world  at 
large  in  the  astounding  catalogue  of  the  additions  he  had  himself 
made  to  those  stores. 

But  with  his  Spanish  brethren  of  the  palette  he  did  not  care 
to  mingle.  Pacheco  seems  to  feel  just  a  touch  of  resentment  at 
this  exclusive  behaviour,  but  consoles  himself  Avith  the  reflection 
that  it  is  his  own  house  that  is  honoured  by  the  single  exception 
that  the  painter  has  made,  in  extending,  as  he  has  done,  the 
hand  of  friendship  to  Velazquez.  We  have  already  seen  that 
the  two  artists  visited  the  Escorial  together ;  and  we  may  well 
imagine  that,  when  not  engaged  in  other  duties,  it  had  been  a 
delight  to  Velazquez  to  show  his  Flemish  friend  the  glories  of 
the  home  palace  also.  Together,  doubtless,  they  might  have  been 
seen  threading  the  corridors  that  gave  access  to  the  royal  library — 


38 


VELAZQUEZ. 


tliat  calm  retreat  where,  ranged  in  rich  bindings  of  dyed  skins  of 
Cordova,  stood  works  in  French,  Castilian,  and  Italian,  that 
treated  of  the  arts,  of  geography,  and  of  mathematics.  There 
on  the  splendid  globe  the  Fleming  might  well  have  traced  out 
for  the  amusement  of  his  fiiend  the  course  of  his  wanderings 
across  the  broad  continent  of  Europe,  or  with  his  finger  have 
indicated  the  route  upon  which  he  is  said  to  have  ever  urged 
Velazquez  to  set  forth — the  pathway  across  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  shores  of  Italy.  The  Spaniard,  assured  that  it  would  be  to 
the  eyes  of  no  prejudiced  Protestant  that  they  would  be  now 
unfolded,  might  respond  by  reaching  forth  the  plans  there 
treasured  for  carrying  out  in  order  due  the  last  dread  function  of 
the  Holy  Office. 

If  the  hour  did  not  dispose  to  literary  studies  we  might  have 
heard  them  discussing  the  proper  treatment  of  the  myths  of 
old,  drawing  their  subjects  from  the  frescoed  walls  around,  rich 
in  the  varied  tale  of  the  '  Metamorphoses  *  of  Ovid;  or  have 
followed  them  as  they  climbed  the  tower  that  stood  close  at 
hand,  before  whose  Avindows  spread  the  wide  panorama  that 
ranged  across  the  river  Manzanares  to  where,  high  up  on  the  far 
sierra,  lay  the  boundary  line  that  divided  the  two  Castilles.  Thence 
might  have  been  discerned  clustering  near  the  shelter  of  Madrid 
the  palaces  of  the  Pardo  and  of  Zar^uela — the  pleasant  garden 
retreats  that  spoke  of  coolness  and  shade  amid  the  thirsty  plain  ; 
or  in  the  farther  distance  have  been  descried  the  giant  masses  of 
the  palace  monastery  they  had  so  lately  visited — views  that  per- 
haps recalled,  to  the  one  the  memory  of  Italian  landscape  stretching 
far  and  wide  around  the  great  Duomo  of  Milan,  to  the  other 
the  yet  more  varied  prospect  from  the  high  cathedral-tower  of 
his  own  loved  Seville. 

Although  it  is  generally  admitted  that  there  was  no  marked 
effect  wrought  on  Velazquez  by  the  style  of  Eubens,  yet  it  is 
the  opinion  of  a  modern  English  critic,^  that  certainly  in  one  of 
1  '  Quarterly  Review,'  Oct.  1872. 


THE  WATER-CARRIER  OF  SEVILLE. 


39 


the  portraits  of  the  king  now  hanging  in  the  gallery  of  Madrid 
(1^0.  1071)  traces  of  a  modification  of  Velazquez's  early  manner 
may  be  found,  the  fruit  of  his  contact  with  the  Fleming.  The 
painting  is  referred  to  as  evincing  a  greater  transparency  in  the 
flesh  tints,  and  a  warmer  tone  than  that  which  had  hitherto 
been  characteristic  of  his  work. 

Passing  outside  the  realm  of  portraiture,  and  omitting  the 
pictures  already  specifically  named,  and  the  *  Bodegones/  or  still- 
life  studies,  up  to  this  date  there  had  been  but  two  works  of 
general  interest  produced  by  the  painter,  with  which  we  are 
now  acquainted. 

Of  these  the  earlier  one  is  attributed  to  the  time  when  he  was 
yet  a  learner  in  Pacheco's  studio,  and  bears  a  history  no  less  curious 
than  interesting.  Stolen  from  the  palace  at  Madrid  by  king 
Joseph,  at  the  rout  at  Vittoria  it  fell,  the  fair  spoil  of  war  (if 
indeed  that  noble-minded  Duke  could  ever  have  regarded  any- 
thing that  reached  him  in  such  ways  as  spoil),  into  the  hands  of 
the  great  Victor  in  the  Peninsular  struggles.  It  was  discovered 
amongst  other  loot  in  the  carriage  of  the  fugitive  king.  Offered 
to  the  reinstated  Spanish  monarch,  it  was  by  him  formally 
made  over  to  the  great  English  captain,  and  now  hangs,  a 
notable  trophy,  on  the  walls  of  the  stately  and  nobly-lit 
gallery  of  Apsley  House.  This  is  the  work  known  as  the 
Afjuador  de  Sevilla — The  Water-carrier  of  Seville.  It  repre- 
sents an  old  man  giving  water  to  some  boys,  one  of  whom 
is  drinking  from  a  glass.  The  left  hand  of  this,  the  principal 
figure,  rests  on  a  water-jar;  a  smaller  jar  stands  on  a  bench 
beside  him.  As  a  painting  it  is  noticeable  as  showing  nothing 
of  the  silvery  brilliancy  which  marks  his  later  touch. 

Madrid  was  probably  the  locality  in  which  the  other  painting, 
known  as  Los  Bor radios,  or  The  To^jers,  came  into  being. 
Critics,  not  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  a  date  (1624)  on  a 
sketch  with  variations  (the  sketch  has  only  six  figures)  in  the 
collection  at  Heytesbury,  are  yet  uncertain  to  what  year  its 


40 


VELAZQUEZ. 


execution  should  properly  be  referred.  Of  its  present  con- 
dition a  writer  in  the  '  Quarterly  Eeview '  remarks  that  "  the 
general  tone  has  suffered  from  the  effects  of  time  and  from 
repainting.  The  sky  and  some  colours,  especially  the  greens, 
which  in  all  Velazquez's  works  have  changed,  have  become  black 
and  opaque.  This,  with  the  darkness  of  the  shadows  and  the 
prevalence  of  brown,  gives  a  sombre  character  to  the  picture." 
The  subject  is  as  follows  : — A  young  peasant  seated  on  a  wine- 
cask  crowned  with  a  chaplet  of  vinedeaves,  the  broad  warm  sun- 
light falling  upon  his  half-naked,'brawny  limbs,  is  placing  on  the 
head  of  a  kneeling  figure — a  novice  about  to  be  initiated  into 
the  sacred  mysteries  of  Bacchic  rites — a  newly-woven  garland. 
Close  by,  a  well-tried  brother  of  the  guild,  his  mouth  expanding 
with  a  broad  grin  of  mingled  amusement  and  content,  holds  out 
a  brimming  wine-bowl,  ready  for  the  aspiring  candidate.  Against 
his  shoulder  leans  another  of  his  companions,  suggesting  with 
well-timed  merriment  some  Bacchic  witticism.  Two  crowned 
adherents  have  passed,  on  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  into  the 
shade  of  an  overhanging  vine.  There,  while  one  nurses  a  pon- 
derous flagon  with  loving  care,  the  other,  reclining  with  bare 
limbs  upon  a  bank  in  the  pose  of  a  classic  river-god,  holds  up  a 
sparkling  wine-cup  against  the  sky.  The  group  is  completed  by 
three  other  figures  on  the  extreme  right.  A  candidate  awaits  his 
turn,  his  offering  for  the  deity  already  in  his  hand ;  a  second, 
eager  for  admission,  discusses  terms  with  the  stubborn  janitor  of 
the  temple  of  bliss.  The  whole  composition  teems  Avith  the  very 
essence  of  revelry.  The  spirit  of  the  worship  of  the  wine-cup 
has  never  elsewhere  been  so  happily  caught  or  so  truthfully 
conveyed  to  canvas. 


CHAPTEE  lY. 
1629—1631. 

FIRST  ITALIAN  JOURNEY  ARRIVAL  AT  VENICE  FERRARA  

ROME  NAPLES. 

IT  is  the  lOth  of  August  in  the  year  1629,  and  Velazquez  is 
in  the  port  of  Barcelona.  He  is  treading  the  deck  of  the 
good  ship  that  is  to  bear  him  across  the  bUie  waves  to  Italy — 
the  paradise  of  artists.  On  board  the  same  vessel  there  sails  one  of 
the  great  military  characters  of  the  time,  the  Marquess  Spinola, 
some  time  Captain-General  of  the  forces  of  His  Most  Catholic 
Majesty  in  Flanders. 

To-day  is  the  festival  of  San  Lorenzo,  and,  hoisting  their  sails 
beneath  a  favouring  breeze,  with  such  fair  omen  they  are  soon 
well  out  upon  the  sparkUng  waters,  while  rapidly,  one  by  one, 
the  mole,  the  towers,  the  buildings  on  the  slopes  behind,  at  last 
the  very  land  itself,  is  lost  to  view.  Day  by  day  upon  the  out- 
ward voyage  Velazquez  sees  and  studies  the  manly  features  of 
his  martial  companion,  destined  hereafter  to  be  immortalized 
upon  his  vivid  canvas.  The  Marquess  is  bound  on  a  new 
service  by  way  of  Venice,  and  for  that  port  the  vessel's  course 
must  consequently  be  steered.  He  goes  to  assume  command 
over  the  forces  engaged  in  the  attempt  to  oust  the  French  heir 
to  the  Dukedom  of  Mantua  from  the  realms  bequeathed  to  him 
by  Gonzaga. 


42 


VELAZQUEZ. 


How  comes  it  that  the  artist  is  on  furlough  1  D  ouhtless  the 
voice  of  Rubens  had  been  heard  in  the  presence  of  the  master  of 
Velazquez's  destiny  setting  forth  the  gain  tliat  he  would  reap  from 
contact  with  the  schools  of  Italy.  Summer  comes  on.  Spinola's 
mission  is  determined  upon,  and  the  long-desired  permission  is  at 
length  accorded  to  the  painter.  Funds,  too,  are  i^rovided  by  the 
liberality  of  the  king — 400  silver  ducats,  and  his  salary  besides. 
This  largess  the  Count  Duke  munificently  increases  by  a  gift  of 
200  more  in  gold,  at  the  same  time  that  he  provides  him  with 
numerous  recommendatory  letters.  There  is  still  existing  the 
missive  written  by  the  Venetian  ambassador  at  Madrid  touching 
the  coming  of  the  artist,  for  whom  he  had  been  called  upon  to 
furnish  a  passport.  It  concludes  with  remarking  that,  though  he, 
the  ambassador,  had  no  reason  himself  to  question  the  motives  of 
the  young  painter's  journey,  it  would  be  well  for  the  Venetian 
authorities  to  keep  an  eye  on  his  movements  in  their  city ! 

On  his  arrival  in  Venice  the  name  of  Olivarez  sufficed  to 
secure  Velazquez  a  reception  which  was  at  least  ostensibly  cordial. 
The  Spanish  ambassador — fully  alive,  also,  if  any  additional 
motive  were  needed,  to  the  artistic  tastes  of  his  royal  master 
(tastes  to  which  other  functionaries  in  Italy  had  before  this 
administered  by  costly  presents  of  pictures),  and  to  the  special 
interest  he  felt  in  this  particular  votary  of  the  brush — received 
him  with  marked  attention,  and  made  him  welcome  at  his  own 
table.  While  visiting  the  galleries  of  Venice  the  painter  was 
constantly  attended  by  some  member  of  the  ambassadorial  suite, 
a  precaution  possibly  rendered  necessary  by  the  recollection  of 
what  Spanish  hatred  could  devise  against  the  Republic.  It  was 
but  a  few  years  before  that  the  fabric  of  their  constitution  had 
barely  escaped  annihilation  from  the  treacherous  and  bloodthirsty 
machinations  of  Bedmar,  the  then  ambassador  from  the  Spanish 
Court.  That  nobleman,  acting  in  concert  with  a  governor  of 
Milan  and  a  viceroy  of  JN'aples,  had  planned  the  massacre  of  the 
Doge  and  Senators,  and  the  giving  up  of  the  too  liberal-minded 


FIRST  ITALIAN  JOURNEY. 


43 


city  to  indiscriminate  plunder.  Though  the  plot  had  failed,  the 
facts  that  came  to  light  in  the  investigation  that  followed  its 
discovery  must  have  left  an  impression  on  the  popular  mind  not 
easily  effaced. 

In  Venice,  employing  himself  rather  in  examining  and  study- 
ing than  in  attempts  at  rivalling  what  he  there  beheld,  Velazquez 
spent  a  period  of  about  four  months.  He  had  ever  evinced  the 
strongest  admiration  for  the  works  of  the  Venetian  school,  and 
he  was  now  revelling  in  the  profusion  of  the  handiworks  of 
Titian,  Tintoretto,  and  Paolo  Veronese.  The  famous  Peter 
Martyr  had  not  then  fallen  a  prey  to  the  raging  flames,  nor  had 
aged  dimmed  the  lustre  of  the  lights  that  played  upon  the  cheeks 
of  Palma's  beauteous  dames.  Still,  amidst  all  these  pleasures, 
the  tenor  of  his  life  could  not  have  been  so  calm  as  heretofore. 
Ever  and  anon  must  have  come  flying  rumours  of  conquest  or 
defeat,  as  the  desultory  warfare  raged  with  varying  fortunes  in 
the  neighbouring  territories,  so  that,  perhaps,  it  was  not  alto- 
gether without  a  certain  feeling  of  relief  that,  as  the  year  closed, 
the  artist  set  his  face  towards  Eome.  It  was  well  for  himself 
and  for  his  country's  fame  that  he  now  withdrew.  Had  he 
remained  he  might  have  added  another  name  to  the  list  of  those 
swept  away  by  the  decimating  plague  that  made  such  fell  havoc 
in  that  fair  "  city  of  the  waters  "  in  the  ensuing  year. 

The  course  he  chose  took  him  by  way  of  Ferrara.  At  that 
place  he  presented  himself  to  the  governor.  Cardinal  Sacchetti, 
w^ho  had  already  an  acquaintance  with  Spain  and  Spaniards 
from  having  held  the  post  of  l!^'uncio  at  their  Court.  His  Excel- 
lency received  him  very  kindly,  pressing  him  for  the  time  he 
might  remain  there  to  take  up  his  abode  at  his  palace,  and  to  be 
his  guest  at  table.  From  acceptance  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
proposal  he  modestly  excused  himself,  pleading  his  custom  of 
not  taking  meals  at  the  ordinary  hours,  but  professing  his  will- 
ingness, if  his  Excellency  really  laid  any  stress  upon  it,  to  deviate 
from  his  usual  habits.   The  Cardinal  therefore  gave  instructions 


44 


VELAZQUEZ. 


to  a  Spanish  gentleman  present  to  pay  hiui  every  attention,  and 
to  furnish  him  and  his  servant  ^  with  apartments,  and  desired 
that  he  might  be  served  with  the  same  dislies  as  were  prepared 
for  his  own  table.  He  also  made  arrangements  for  his  being 
shown  all  that  was  worthy  of  note  in  the  city.  Velazquez  remained 
there  two  days,  and  the  evening  prior  to  his  departure,  on  going 
to  take  leave  of  the  Cardinal,  was  closeted  with  him  in  con- 
versation on  various  topics  for  upwards  of  three  hours.  Certain 
gentlemen  of  the  Cardinal's  household  accompanied  him  on 
the  morrow  as  far  as  Cento,  some  sixteen  miles  away,  whence  he 
journeyed  with  his  single  attendant  to  Bologna.  From  Bologna 
he  appears  to  have  travelled  by  way  of  the  coastdine  that  stretches 
from  Eavenna  to  Ancona,  as  we  next  hear  of  him  as  satisfying 
the  claims  of  Catholic  piety  by  a  pilgrimage  to  the  famous  Holy 
House  of  Loretto.  Traversing  the  Apennines  by  the  passes  near 
Foligno,  he  reached  the  valley  of  the  Tiber  and  the  walls  of  the 
Eternal  City. 

At  Rome  he  was  treated  with  marked  distinction  by  Cardinal 
Barberini,  the  nephew  of  that  member  of  the  Barberini  family, 
who,  under  the  name  of  Urban  YIIL,  was  then  filling  the  papal 
chair.  By  his  command  he  was  lodged  and  entertained  in  the 
palace  of  the  Vatican.  While  there  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
keys  of  some  of  the  apartments  decorated  with  frescoes,  and 

^  "Sucriado."  It  has  generally  been  assumed  tliat  the  servant  who 
travelled  with  Velazquez  on  this  occasion  was  one  Juan  de  Pareja,  a 
mulatto  slave,  about  whose  skill  in  painting  the  following  tale  is  told,  a 
story  that  finds  a  place  in  most  of  the  biographical  notices  of  the  painter  : 
Having  quietly  observed  his  master's  method,  and  practised  attempts  at 
imitating  him  in  secret  for  many  years,  he  one  day  introduced  into  the 
studio  at  Madrid  a  painting  of  his  own,  setting  it  up  against  the  wall  with 
the  back  only  visible.  The  eye  of  the  king,  when  he  entered  the  room,  was 
caught  by  it,  and  taking  it  up,  and  turning  it  round,  he  enquired  who 
had  done  it.  On  hearing  from  Pareja,  who  had  taken  care  to  be  at  hand, 
its  real  history,  he  exclaimed  that  so  good  a  painter  must  no  longer 
remain  a  slave,  and  then  and  there  liberated  him. 


VIEW  OF  THE  VILLA  MEDICL     BY  VELAZQUEZ. 
[h  the  Madrid  Gallery. 


AT  ROME. 


45 


seems  to  have  been  attracted  at  first  by  Zuccliero's  work,  probably 
from  his  recollections  of  that  artist's  paintings  in  Spain.  But, 
however  stately  the  position,  a  long  isolation  in  the  solitude  of 
the  Vatican  palace  did  not  suit  the  sociable  side  of  Velazquez's 
character.  He  accordingly  changed  his  quarters,  having  previ- 
ously obtained  an  order  for  admission,  at  any  hour,  to  the  Sixtine 
Chapel,  and  to  the  chambers  that  contained  the  immortal  works 
of  Eaphael ;  and  there  much  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  diligent 
labour  in  the  presence  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  last-named 
painter,  and  of  Michelangelo.  As  the  summer  drew  on  he 
fancied  the  airy  situation  of  the  Villa  de'  Medici,  and  was  enabled, 
such  was  the  influence  of  his  powerful  friends,  to  obtain  per- 
mission to  occupy  that  ducal  residence.  There  he  was  surrounded 
by  a  rich  profusion  of  antique  statues,  and  could  roam  at  will  in 
the  pleasant  gardens  attached  to  the  villa.  Of  those  lighter 
hours  he  has  left  us  reminiscences  in  two  views  of  the  gardens, 
taken  during  his  stay  there  in  1630,  which  now  hang  in  the 
Museum  of  Madrid.  After  enjoying  the  calm  of  this  peaceful 
retreat  for  some  two  or  three  months  he  was  seized  by  an  attack 
of  ague,  malaria,  or  Eoman  fever,  and  moved  lower  down  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  ambassador's  residence.  The  Conde  de 
Monterey,  urged  by  the  same  motives  that  had  influenced  the 
Venetian  ambassador,  as  well  as  by  his  own  sympathies  with  all 
that  bore  on  his  own  favourite  pursnit,i  took  every  possible  stej)  to 
aid  Velazquez's  recovery.  He  sent  the  best  medical  advice  pro- 
curable, and  when  the  patient  became  convalescent  took  care  that 
nothing  his  palace  could  furnish  should  be  lacking  to  the  painter. 
It  is  mentioned  in  particular,  amongst  other  things,  that  he 
sent  him  courses  of  Italian  confectionery,  calculated  to  tempt 
the  appetite  of  an  invalid.  Happily,  all  these  pains  were  not 
bestowed  in  vain. 

1  He  was  one  of  those  amateur  collectors  celebrated  for  the  good  things 
he  had  to  exhibit.  Among  his  special  treasures  was  a  numerous  series  of 
coloured  chalk-drawings  by  Michelangelo. 


46 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Yelazquez  remained  about  a  year  in  Eome.  One  advantage 
he  could  obtain  there  denied  him  in  his  own  country ;  it  was 
possible  to  draw  from  the  nude.  'Noy  was  the  study  of  the 
beauteous  lines  of  the  female  figure  excluded  from  the  schools. 
In  Spain  representations  of 

'*  Gods  and  goddesses 
Without  stays  and  boddices  " 

were  regarded  by  the  Argus-eyes  of  the  Inquisition  as  "  'pinturas 
dfishonestas,"  and  we  must  not  forget  that  Pacheco  himself  was 
one  of  their  official  censors.  The  feeling  of  his  countrymen  on 
the  subject  is  so  aptly  put  before  us  by  Carducho,  that  it  is  hard 
to  resist  the  temptation  to  digress  for  a  brief  moment. 

In  one  place  he  says  : — "  There  is  an  account  existing  of  a 
painter  who  after  death  appeared  to  his  Confessor  burning  in 
the  flames  of  purgatory,  and  told  him  that  he  should  never 
escape  .  .  .  until  a  '  pintura  deshonesta '  which  he  had  executed 
was  burnt.  He  entreated  him  to  communicate  with  the  person 
for  whom  he  had  made  it,  and  beg  him  to  burn  it,  so  that  he 
might  rest  in  peace."  Later  on  we  come  to  the  general  maxim 
that,  "  pintar  cosas  deshonestas  es  pecado  mortal."  But  Carducho 
himself  is  mortal  too ;  and  so,  in  anotlier  passage,  after  reading 
that  "  among  the  pictures  presented  to  Prince  Charles  of  England 
was  a  Titian,  representing  Antiope  with  shepherds  and  Satyrs, 
a  large  work  once  kept  at  the  Pardo,  that  had  been  rescued  from 
the  fire  which  broke  out  in  that  palace  in  1608,  and  in  which 
so  many  other  paintings  perished,"  we  find  him  slyly  remarking, 
"  Y  esta  con  ser  tan  ]jrofaiia,  piido  esmpar  del  fuego!  "  (With 
all  its  profanity  it  never  got  scorched  !) 

But  before  these  opportunities  were  accorded  to  Velazquez 
he  was  already  more  than  thirty  years  old  ;  and  to  this  cause 
may  fairly  in  great  measure  be  referred  one  of  the  failings  to  be 
observed  in  his  work,  viewed  as  a  whole.  He  was  himself  fully 
conscious  of  it,  conscious  that  to  grapple  successfully  with  female 
loveliness  was  a  task  beyond  his  reach.    Even  in  the  realm  of 


FIRST  ITALIAN  JOURNEY. 


47 


portraiture  his  heads  of  ladies  are  exceedingly  few.  They  are 
almost  entirely  confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  his  own  family 
circle,  or  to  members  of  the  Royal  family  painted  "by  command." 
The  former  done  perhaps  merely  for  amusement,  or  by  way  of 
practice ;  the  latter  because  they  were  orders  with  which  it  was 
impossible  to  avoid  complying. 

Before  his  sojourn  at  Rome  came  to  an  end  he  painted,  much 
to  the  gratification  of  its  recipient  his  father-in-law,  a  portrait 
of  himself.  Two  other  works,  Jacob  with  Joseph's  Coat,  and 
Apollo  at  the  Forge  of  Vulcan,  complete  the  list  of  all  that  he 
is  known  to  have  sent  home.  Of  the  two  latter  Ford  speaks  as 
follows  : — "  In  spite  of  much  truth,  character,  and  powerful 
drawing  they  are  singularly  marked  with  most  ordinary  forms. 
The  children  of  Jacob  are  the  kinsmen  of  the  model  peasant,  and 
Vulcan  is  a  mere  farrier,  and  his  assistants  brawny  Galhcians. 
It  would  seem  that  the  Spaniard,  to  prove  his  independence,  had 
lowered  his  lowest  transcript  of  nature  to  brave  the  ideal  and 
divine  under  the  shadow  of  Raphael  himself." 

From  Rome  he  passed  on  to  Naples,  but  only  for  a  brief 
sojourn.  Here  he  must  have  commenced  that  acquaintance  with 
his  countryman  Ribera  which  afterwards  ripened  into  a  close 
intimacy.  And  here,  too,  yet  one  other  painting  grew  into  life 
beneath  his  hand — a  portrait  of  that  Infanta,  whom  the  English 
Prince  had  visited  at  her  father's  Court,  but  whom  he  had  not 
espoused.  La  Seiiora  Regna  (for  she  was  now  a  queen)  was 
passing  through  Naples  to  tlie  Court  of  Hungary  to  share  the 
throne  of  her  husband  Ferdinand. 


CHAPTER  y. 


1631—1648. 


BACK  AT  MADRID  FURTHER  FAVOURS  FROM  THE  KING  HIS  OWN 

PORTRAIT  MARRIAGE    OF    HIS    DAUGHTER     FRANCISCA  HIS 

FAMILY  MADE  CHAMBERLAIN  THE  KING's  PORTRAIT — MURILLO 

 AT  ARANJUEZ. 

'nr^HE  commencement  of  the  year  1631  saw  the  return  of  the 


X  painter  to  his  native  country.  Arrived  at  Madrid  he 
hastened  to  his  great  patron  Olivarez.  The  Duke  received  him 
with  much  cordiality,  and  gave  him  instructions  for  presenting 
himself  to  the  king.  At  his  interview  with  Philip  he  expressed 
his  particular  gratitude  to  his  Majesty,  for  his  having  refrained 
from  letting  any  other  painter  pourtray  his  royal  person  during 
the  time  he  had  been  away  in  Italy,  as  well  as  for  his  having 
reserved  for  him  the  honour  of  painting  the  portrait  of  the  little 
Prince  Balthasar.  The  king,  on  his  part,  evinced  the  liveliest 
satisfaction  at  having  his  favourite  painter  once  more  within 
reach. 

It  seems  not  improbable  that  the  cause  of  Velazquez's  return 
from  Italy  at  such  a  time  of  year,  and  during  a  furlough  which 
he  would  probably  have  wished  extended  to  the  furthest  possible 
limits,  was  that  he  had  received  a  hint  from  Olivarez  that  the 
king  was  getting  impatient.  It  was  now  between  one  and  two 
years  since  the  youthful  Balthasar  Carlos  had  made  his  first 
appearance  in  the  world,  and  parental  affection,  seeking  to  pre- 


HIS  OWN  PORTRAIT. 


49 


serve  for  posterity  the  lineaments  of  its  progeny,  does  not  brook 
too  protracted  a  delay.  We  have  here,  it  is  true,  but  a  mere 
conjecture,  but  had  the  motive  power  been  any  ordinary  domestic 
claim  we  should  probably  have  heard  of  it  from  Paclieco,  who 
veils  the  reasons  for  his  return  under  vague  generalities, — he 
determined  upon  returning  to  Spain  in  consequence  of  the 
absolute  necessity  for  his  doing  so  from  his  prolonged  absence," — 
a  strong  contrast  with  the  clear  recapitulation  of  facts  that  marks 
the  rest  of  his  writings  on  the  subject  of  Velazquez's  life.  Olivarez 
was  probably  afraid  that  some  other  painter  would  be  called  in 
to  stop  the  gap,  and  that,  such  a  step  once  taken,  Velazquez  on 
his  return  might  have  had  to  figure  on  the  scene  as  second 
favourite — an  alteration  which  would  by  no  means  have  suited 
the  proud  Duke. 

And  now  the  king  will  have  him  close  at  hand.  He  shall 
bring  his  work  to  another  part  of  the  palace.  A  new  studio 
shall  be  allotted  to  him  there.  Thither  will  the  king  himself, 
armed  with  his  private  })ass-key,  henceforward  frequently  repair, 

Velazquez  had  sent  over,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
from  Italy  a  portrait  of  himself  executed  during  his  stay  in 
Eome,  and  intended  to  become  a  sort  of  family  heir-loom. 
Pacheco,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  was  its  possessor  in  the  first 
instance.    But  who  possesses  it  now  1 

"  What  lands  or  skies 
Paint  pictures  in  those  friendly  eyes  ? " 

None  can  say.  For  a  glimpse  of  those  features,  in  a  portrait 
properly  so-called,  it  is  to  the  galleries  of  Florence  that  we  are 
now-a-days  directed,  though  there  are  no  less  than  four  paintings 
in  England  which  have  had  such  honours  suggested  for  them. 
Of  one  of  these  —  that  in  the  Bridgwater  gallery  —  Waagen 
speaks  highly  as  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  picture 
at  Florence.    In  addition  there  is  the  miniature^  which  was 


V 


^  See  the  frontispiece. 


B 


50 


VELAZQUEZ. 


acquired  by  the  late  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell,  and  wliicli  lie 
regarded  as  genuine.  Of  works  of  a  different  class  from  which 
something  may  he  learnt  as  to  the  appearance  of  our  court- 
painter,  the  prominent  instance  is  furnished  by  a  painting  exe- 
cuted at  a  more  advanced  period  of  his  life,  entitled  Las  Meninas. 
There  he  represents  himself  working  at  his  craft,  palette  in  hand. 
Another  famous  picture,  also  in  the  Madrid  gallery,  representing 
the  Surrender  of  Breda,  has  been  also  thought  by  some  authorities 
to  contain  a  head  in  which  the  likeness  may  be  traced.  Nor 
does  the  Louvre  abandon  the  claim  to  similar  honours  on  behalf  of 
one  of  the  figures  in  the  painting  known  as  the  Reunion  d^ Artistes. 

The  changes  in  Velazquez's  style  at  this  time,  the  result  of  his 
Italian  experiences,  have  been  described  by  an  English  critic 
briefly  as  consisting  in  the  adoption  of  a  silvery- grey  tone, 
transparency  in  the  shadows,  a  more  natural  gradation  of  tints, 
and  in  an  approximation  in  the  use  of  warm  and  transparent 
colour  to  something  more  of  the  manner  of  Eubens  and  the 
Venetians. 

His  earliest  essay  after  arriving  at  Madrid  appears  to  have  been 
some  reminiscence  of  the  baby -prince,  but  we  have  no  particulars 
about  it.  As  the  child  grew  in  years  he  of  course  became  the 
frequent  subject  of  the  painter's  pencil.  In  some  of  the  portraits 
he  appears  before  us  in  hunting  dress,  accompanied  by  his  dogs  ; 
in  others  we  see  him  perched  up  on  horseback,  galloping  across 
the  breezy  plain.  It  is  in  this  latter  guise  that  he  figures  in  a 
large  work  at  Madrid  (No.  332),  of  which  there  is  a  smaller 
repetition  at  Dulwich,  and  replicas  elsewhere.  The  Dulwich 
example  presents  the  little  cavalier  dressed  in  a  coat  of 
black  velvet  enriched  with  embroidery,  crossed  by  a  crimson 
scarf,  the  ends  of  which  stream  fluttering  in  the  wind.  He 
wears  high  knee-boots,  a  broad  white  lace  collar,  and  a  black  hat 
with  a  feather.  There  is  a  distance  of  blue  snow-capped  sierra. 
We  see  him  nearly  full-face  as  he  comes  bounding  out  of  the 
scene.   His  expression  is  very  bright  and  pleasing.   His  figure  is 


MARKTAGE  OF  HIS  DAUGHTER. 


51 


so  much  the  best  part  of  the  painting,  that  one  is  inclined  to  ask 
whether  some  of  the  rest  is  not  due  to  another  handi?  This 
young  prince  did  not  Uve  to  come  to  the  throne  ;  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  small-pox  in  Saragossa  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen, 
and  there  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Sen  his  heart  now  rests. 

The  portrait  of  Don  Pedro  de  Alt  amir  a  now  hanging  in  the 
Louvre,  noticeable  as  one  of  the  few  dated  pictures  left  us  by 
the  artist,  was  executed  in  the  year  1633  ;  and  in  June  of  that 
year  Velazquez  was  appointed  by  the  king  to  one  of  the  minor 
magisterial  offices  about  the  Court,  by  way  of  a  general  recogni- 
tion of  his  services.  Possibly  it  was  his  being  in  receipt  of  the 
emoluments  thence  arising  that  enabled  him  to  resign  in  1634 
the  post  of  Usher  of  the  Chamber,  in  order  that  he  might  provide 
his  daughter  with  a  fitting  marriage  portion.  The  authorities 
do  not  seem  to  have  raised  any  objection  to  the  transfer  of  the 
post  to  his  son-in-law  elect,  the  painter  Juan  Baptista  del  Mazo 
Martinez.  It  may  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  marriage 
present  from  the  King,  which  in  point  of  fact  it  was. 

The  daughter  now  espoused  to  Juan  del  Mazo  was  Francisca, 
the  elder  of  the  two  little  daughters  who  had  brightened  the 
early  life  of  the  old  home  at  Seville.  She  was  still  of  tender 
years,  even  for  a  bride  of  the  sunny  south,  being  but  fifteen. 
Her  sister  Ignatia  had  died  previously,  but  we  do  not  know  in 
what  year.  The  veil  of  the  painter's  family  life  is  only  very 
partially  drawn  aside,  and  we  are  indebted  mainly  to  a  specimen 
of  his  own  handiwork  for  such  glimpses  as  we  obtain.  We 
gather  from  a  picture  hanging  in  the  Belvedere  at  Vienna,  that 
about  the  time  of  this  marriage  his  wife  Juana  was  still  living, 
and  surrounded  by  a  somewhat  numerous  offspring  ;  but  we  must 
let  the  picture  speak  for  itself. 

The  scene  presents  us  with  the  interior  of  a  spacious  and 
airy  chamber,  one  half  of  which  runs  back  so  as  to  form  a  kind 

1  Indeed  in  the  catalogue  by  Dr.  Richter  (1880)  it  is  classed  as  "after 
Velazquez." 

E  2 


52 


VELAZQUEZ. 


of  inner  apartment ;  this  inner  chamber  is  lit  by  a  separate 
window,  but  is  not  separated  from  tlie  main  body  of  the  room 
by  any  partition  or  barrier.  In  the  immediate  foreground  of  the 
room  stand  the  figures  of  two  charming  boys,  with  long  flow- 
ing hair  —  manly  little  fellows,  full  of  all  the  artlessness  of 
youth.  The  elder  is  dressed  in  a  small  jerkin,  over  which  is 
worn  a  short  cloak.  His  sleeves  are  slashed  with  white,  and  he 
wears  a  broad  laced  collar,  and  full  ruffles  turned  back  at  the 
wrist.  Two  groups  arranged  immediately  behind  the  boys  form 
the  premier  plan  of  the  picture.  On  the  right  of  the  elder  boy 
stands  his  sister  Francisca,  near  her  a  brother,  apparently  about 
eleven  or  twelve  years  old,  and  slightly  behind,  her  husband, 
Juan  del  Mazo,  and  a  figure  of  a  man  unknown.  The  other 
group  is  formed  by  Juana,  with  two  smaller  boys  standing  at  her 
knee.  The  middle  distance  is  occupied  by  a  draped  table  set 
against  the  nearer  wall,  on  which  stands  an  elegant  marble  bust, 
probably  a  French  or  Italian  representation  of  Isabella  de 
Bourbon,  and  above  which  there  hangs  a  portrait  bearing  the 
well-known  lineaments  of  the  king.  Away  in  the  recess  is  seen 
the  form  of  the  painter  standing  at  work  with  his  back  towards 
us  ;  his  easel  is  occupied  by  a  large  canvas,  the  light  colour  of 
the  dress  of  the  figure  he  is  supposed  to  be  engaged  upon  giving 
the  necessary  relief  to  his  outline.  Towards  him  the  youngest 
child  of  all  is  stretching  its  arms,  as  it  is  held  in  leading-strings 
by  its  nurse. 

The  painter's  wife  comes  before  us  here  in  all  the  portliness  of 
matronly  dignity  ;  her  form  is  in  harmony  with  the  sentiment  of 
the  proverb 

"  Dadme  gordura 
lo  te  daro  hermosura," 

but  it  would  be  a  straining  of  language  to  pronounce  her  beauteous 
according  to  more  Northern  canons. ^     A  long  dark  plaited  tress 

^  There  is  a  portrait  in  the  Madrid  Museum  which  Don  Pedro  de  Madrazo 
has  no  doubt  is  a  representation  of  Juana.    The  head,  apparently  that  of 


JUANA  PACHECO.     BY  VELAZQUEZ. 
/;/  the  Madrid  Gallery. 


THE  painter's  FAMILY. 


53 


falling  in  front  of  the  ear,  and  lying  across  the  bare  neck  and 
shoulder,  increases  the  unpleasant  effect  by  suggesting  a  notion 
of  the  dishevelled,  and  the  gigantic  hoops  of  the  petticoat  do  not 
aid  the  cause  of  beauty.  Francisca's  head-dress  is  set  jauntily 
on  one  side,  but  in  her  case  too  there  is  little  to  be  said  in 
favour  of  personal  loveliness.  Perhaps  she  was  fairer  than  her 
image.  The  painter,  as  we  have  elsewhere  pointed  out,  did 
not  feel  himself  at  home  among  the  Graces. 

Of  all  the  seven  olive  branches  with  which  we  here  see 
Velazquez  and  Juana  surrounded  it  is  believed  that  none  survived 
their  parents.  Of  the  death  of  the  married  daughter,  prior  to 
their  own  decease,  we  have  documentary  evidence.  That  the 
others  also  sank  into  early  graves  is,  if  a  melancholy,  at  least  a 
natural,  deduction  to  draw  from  the  fact,  that  there  occurs  no 
mention  (so  far  as  is  at  present  known)  of  any  of  them  as  filling 
places  of  emolument  about  the  Court ;  while  the  archives  testify 
to  the  readiness  of  King  Philip  to  have  given  such  aid  had  there 
been  any  to  make  application  for  it.  One  of  the  children  of 
Juan  del  Mazo,  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough,  was  appointed 
Ugier  de  Camam,  his  relationship  to  Velazquez  being  mentioned 
in  the  record;  and  Mazo  himself  (who  was  the  parent  by  Francisca 
Velazquez  of  several  other  sons)  was,  on  the  death  of  his  great 
father-in-law,  appointed  by  the  king's  fiat  to  a  post  that  that 
death  had  rendered  vacant. 

A  still  further  instance  of  the  king's  munificence  to  the  family 
is  on  record.  In  the  course  of  seven  years  he  gave  the  painter's 
father  at  Seville  no  less  than  three  secretaryships  there,  of  the 
value  of  a  thousand  ducats  each.  Fancy  might  perhaps  suggest, 
that  the  unknown  figure  in  the  family  picture  was  the  still  hale 
and  vigorous  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Silva,  visiting  Madrid  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  at  the  marriage  of  the  little  grand-daughter 
whom  he  had  not  seen  for  so  long. 

a  woman  about  twenty-four  years  old,  is  a  profile,  the  right  side  being  in 
view.    A  collar  of  pearls  adorns  the  neck. — See  illustration. 


54 


VELAZQUEZ. 


In  the  year  previous  to  Francisca's  marriage  the  artist  world 
of  Madrid  had  been  all  astir  about  a  certain  trial.  A  prosecution 
had  been  instituted  by  some  of  the  collectors  of  the  revenue  for 
the  purpose  of  extracting  from  artists,  a  class  hitherto  exempt,  the 
payment  of  an  impost  under  the  head  of  a  tax  on  goods  sold* 
They  combined  for  mutual  defence,  and  amongst  the  pleaders  in 
their  behalf  was  to  be  heard  no  less  a  personage  than  the  cele- 
brated Lope  de  Yega.  Eventually  their  old  exemption  was 
confirmed,  Court  influence  apparently  having  had  more  to  do 
witli  securing  the  verdict  than  any  very  weighty  arguments, 
other  than  that  based  on  prescription,  that  they  had  been  able  to 
produce. 

I^ot  long  after  his  resignation  of  the  post  of  Usher,  Velaz- 
quez received  the  appointment  of  Keeper  of  the  Wardrobe 
{Ayuda  de  Guardaropa).  Later  on  still  ^  this  was  either  held 
in  conjunction  with,  or  exchanged  for,  the  appointment  of 
Chamberlain  {Ayuda  de  Camara),  which  gave  a  right  to  the 
coveted  key  of  office,  and  was  an  honour  rarely  conferred  on 
any  who  had  not  been  knighted.  One  of  the  most  important 
works  on  which  he  was  now  engaged  was  the  magnificent 
equestrian  portrait  of  the  king,  intended  to  be  a  guide  for 
making  a  bronze  statue.  When  the  painting  should  be  done  the 
Spanish  sculptor  Montanes  was  to  carve  in  wood 

"  Instar  montis  equum," 
and  a  colossal  wooden  king  to  ride  thereon  ;  these  joint  labours 
accomplished,  an  Italian  artist  was  to  be  responsible  for  the  rest. 

The  king  took  a  particular  interest  in  the  success  of  the  work. 
On  one  occasion  he  gave  the  artist — "  laying  aside  his  state  for 
all  that  long  time,"  as  Pacheco  remarks  with  a  pardonable 
outburst  of  family  glorification — a  sitting  of  three  hours'  duration. 
In  the  picture  now  in  the  Gallery  at  Florence,  which  is  generally 

^  Madrazo  gives  the  following  account  of  tlie  dates.— Keeper  of  the 
Wardrobe  without  the  duties  1634,  with  the  duties  1645 ;  Chamberlain 
without  the  duties  1643,  with  the  duties  1646. 


MURILLO. 


55 


believed  to  be  the  painting  in  question,  the  Monarch  is  represented 
with  certain  symbolical  attributes — angels  with  lightning,  a  globe, 
and  a  cross  in  the  sky  above,  while  below  in  a  corner  lurks  a 
serpent.  To  Pietro  Tacca  of  Florence  was  entrusted  the  charge 
of  making  the  statue  in  bronze.  At  Florence,  accordingly,  it  was 
cast  in  1640,  and  duly  sent  over  to  Spain.  It  was  not  less  than 
seventeen  feet  high,  and  so  must  have  taxed  the  powers  of  the 
stevedores  of  those  days.  For  many  years  a  remarkable  object 
among  the  treasures  at  Buen  Retiro,  it  has  been  during  the  present 
century  removed  to  Madrid. 

The  orbits  of  the  two  greatest  luminaries  in  the  world  of 
Spanish  art  are  now  about  to  intersect.  When  Velazquez 
quitted  his  native  city,  that  Bartolome  Esteban  Murillo,  who  was 
also  to  shed  such  lustre  upon  Seville,  was  but  a  child,  sporting 
perhaps  in  the  streets  of  the  Sevillan  Ghetto,  like  the  charming 
gamins  that  live  on  his  immortal  canvas.  Since  then  he  has 
grown  to  man's  estate,  and  has  studied  painting  under  Juan  del 
Castillo.  His  master  is  now  dead,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-four 
he  repairs  to  Madrid.  Here  is  the  account  of  his  reception  as 
given  in  a  published  translation  from  the  Spanish  of  Cean 
Bermudez : — 

"  When  Murillo  arrived  at  Madrid  he  went  to  visit  his  country- 
man Don  Diego  Velazquez  de  Silva,  first  painter  of  the  Camara 
to  the  king,  with  whom  he  was  not  acquainted  but  by  his  fame, 
and  he  requested  of  him  letters  of  recommendation  to  Rome. 
Velazquez,  pleased  with  his  appearance  and  mild  disposition, 
asked  him  various  questions  about  his  connections  and  his 
family,  of  his  school  and  his  master,  and  concerning  the 
motives  which  had  induced  him  to  leave  his  country  and  under- 
take so  distant  a  journey.  To  all  which  Murillo  replied  with  so 
much  candour  that  Velazquez,  captivated  with  his  spirit  and 
ingenuousness,  told  him  that  henceforward  he  must  continue 
under  his  roof,  where  he  should  be  attended  like  a  friend  and  like 
a  countryman. 


56 


VELAZQUEZ. 


.  .  Velazquez  gave  immediate  directions  that  he  might  see 
all  the  pictures  in  the  king's  palace,  those  in  the  Buen  Eetiro 
as  well  as  of  the  Convent  of  the  Escorial,  from  which  Murillo 
returned  with  admiration,  and,  modestly  communicating  his 
wishes  to  his  protector,  he  desired  to  copy  those  which  were 
most  adapted  to  his  genius  and  his  inclination.  Velazquez  at 
the  moment  gave  orders,  and  made  convenient  arrangemsnts  to 
carry  it  into  effect.  In  the  mean  time  Don  Diego  accompanied 
the  king  in  the  excursion  he  made  into  Arragon  in  the  year 
1642  to  pacify  the  Catalans.  Murillo  copied  some  paintings  of 
Vandyck,  of  Ribera,  and  of  Velazquez's  own,  who  was  very 
much  pleased  with  the  copies.  He  presented  them  to  the  king 
on  his  return,  and  they  were  celebrated  by  all  the  nobility  and 
connoisseurs  of  the  Court.  Don  Diego,  knowing  the  judicious 
choice  Murillo  had  made  of  the  three  masters,  the  one  for  the 
exquisite  colouring,  the  other  for  the  perfection  in  the  claro- 
obscuro,  added  to  the  spirit  as  well  as  truth  to  be  seen  in  the 
third,  desired  him  on  no  account  henceforward  to  copy  any 
others  but  these  only,  because  they  would  enable  him  to  obtain 
a  good  tone  of  colouring,  a  facility  of  handling,  and  would  affirm 
him  a  greater  freedom  in  drawing,  i.  e.  in  drawing  with  paint 
and  La  Brocha,  or  hair-pencil,  at  the  same  time. 

"  In  the  year  following  Murillo  took  a  great  share  in  the 
affliction  which  Velazquez  felt  at  the  fall  of  the  Conde  Duque 
de  Olivarez,  .  .  .  and  from  that  time  his  residence  there  became 
irksome.  The  king  took  Velazquez  with  him  in  the  year  1644 
to  Saragossa,  and  at  their  return  they  were  astonished  at  the 
progress  he  had  made  in  their  absence.  .  .  .  Then  it  was  that 
Velazquez  told  him  he  was  now  qualified  to  undertake  the  journey 
to  Rome,  and  offered  him  letters,  &c.,  from  the  king.  Remember, 
by  the  way,  the  state  of  advancement  Velazquez  was  anxious 
young  men  should  be  in  to  render  them  fit  to  go  and  study  in 
Italy  !  .  .  .  For  some  unknown  cause  ....  Murillo  declined  these 
offers,  and  returned  to  Seville  in  1645." 


AT  ARANJUEZ. 


57 


The  fall  of  the  mighty  Premier  occurred  in  1643.  At  last  one 
of  the  many  attacks  that  had  been  made  upon  that  great  and 
puissant  senor  proved  successful.  The  plan  he  had  conceived 
on  the  death  of  his  daughter  of  raising  one  Julianillo,  his  ille- 
gitimate son,  to  rank  and  office,  with  a  view  to  making  him  his 
heir  (in  a  country  where  it  was  not  allowed  even  kings  to  permit 
their  illegitimate  sons  to  enter  the  capital),  was  probably  the 
last  drop  wrung  out  into  the  overflowing  cup  of  the  personal 
animosity  he  had  roused.  He  had  to  retire  from  the  capital 
himself,  first  to  Loeches  and  subsequently  to  the  more  distant 
Toro.  Velazquez  was  one  of  the  few  who  refused  to  desert 
him  in  his  adversity,  nor  did  Philip  resent  the  painter's  noble 
conduct  toward  his  old  patron. 

Tlie  Catalonians,  oppressed  by  the  quartering  of  foreign  troops 
within  their  territory,  had  risen  in  rebellion,  and  there  had  been 
a  protracted  and  desultory  struggle  between  them  and  the  royal 
troops.  Despairing  of  success  unaided  they  threw  open  their 
country  to  France,  then  at  war  with  Spain,  and  accepted,  under 
the  title  of  Count  of  Barcelona,  the  sovereignty  of  Louis  XIII. 
We  learn  from  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell's  "  Annals  "  that  it  was  in 
1642  that  the  king  made  his  first  progress  thither,  and  that  he 
began  it  curiously  enough  by  a  journey  to  his  royal  gardens  of 
Aranjuez,  which  were  not  on  that  road.  It  was  when  halting  there 
that  Velazquez,  who  accompanied  the  king,  produced  some  of  his 
most  celebrated  efforts  in  landscape — views  of  scenes  in  those 
weU-watered  gardens.  Later  in  their  progress  the  painter  while 
at  Saragossa  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  fellow-artist,  one  Jusepe 
Martinez,  who  has  left  us  an  anecdote  about  a  portrait  of  a 
young  lady  which  Velazquez  executed  in  that  city.  It  was  sent 
home  duly  completed,  and  was  much  admired  by  the  young 
damsel's  kith  and  kin,  but  the  young  lady  herself  would  have 
nothing  to  say  to  it.  "  It  must  be  sent  back  immediately." 
"  And  why,  pray  1 "  "  The  man  has  not  done  justice  to  my  lace 
collar.    It's  the  finest  guipure  that's  made." 


58 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Two  years  later  the  king  found  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  Cata- 
lonia so  serious  that  he  took  the  field  in  person,  and  again 
Velazquez  had  to  travel  in  his  train.  The  monarch's  presence 
made  a  change  at  once,  and  Lerida  was  besieged  and  taken. 
After  capturing  it  he  entered  it  in  triumph  on  horseback,  clad 
in  a  magnificent  suit  of  purple  and  gold,  and  Velazquez  was 
called  upon  to  immortalise  the  event  by  painting  him  in  this 
splendid  attire. 

And  in  fact  most  of  the  artist's  time  during  the  long  period 
which  we  have  here  briefly  sketched  was  employed  in  painting 
pictures  of  the  king,  or,  what  is  much  the  same  as  regards  vari- 
ation of  subject,  pictures  of  the  Eoyal  family  and  of  the  gran- 
dees about  the  Court.  The  Crucifixion^  executed  for  the  convent 
of  S.  Placido,  the  Family  Picture  at  Vienna,  and  a  representation 
of  the  Taldng  of  Breda  (also  called  Las  Lanzas),  form  the 
scanty  exceptions. 

This  last-named  work  represents  his  old  travelling  companion, 
the  Marquess  of  Spinola,  receiving,  with  all  the  grace  and  dignity 
of  a  generous  conqueror,  the  keys  of  the  fortress  from  the  van- 
quished general  Justin  de  Nassau.  A  large  number  of  men- 
at-arms,  both  Spanish  and  Flemish,  are  introduced.  Near 
Spinola's  charger  stands  the  figure  of  a  soldier  dressed  in  grey 
with  a  broad  lappet,  and  wearing  a  slouched  hat  with  a  white 
feather,  that  passes  for  a  portrait  of  the  painter.  The  original 
picture,  which  dates  probably  from  1647,  is  said  to  be  a  marvel- 
lous instance  of  Velazquez's  power  of  aerial  perspective. 


CHAPTEK  VL 


1648—1659. 

SECOND     ITALIAN    JOURNEY  ARRIVAL    AT    GENOA  NAPLES  

ROME  —  PORTRAIT    OF    INNOCENT    X.  BACK    IN  SPAIN  MADE 

APOSENTADOR  MAYOR  "  LAS  HILANDERAS  "  LAS  MENINAS." 

IT  had  been  in  contemplation  for  some  time  to  found  an 
academy  of  painting  and  sculpture  in  Spain,  analogous  to 
that  already  existing  at  Eome ;  and  during  the  reign  of  the  art- 
loving  monarch,  Philip  TV.,  the  idea  had  gradually  been  taking 
a  more  definite  shape.  With  a  view  to  making  a  practical  begin- 
ning, for  the  project  was  still  in  embryo,  Velazquez  was  despatched 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1648  on  a  mission  to  Italy.  The  king's 
gallery  was  to  have  additions  made  to  it,  for  which  purpose  he 
was  to  purchase  paintings ;  and  from  the  large  choice  which  the 
Italian  collections  v/ould  furnish  he  was  to  select  such  statues 
as  he  thought  most  desirable,  making  casts  where  it  was  not 
possible  to  purchase.  Previous  to  starting  on  the  journey  his 
annual  pension  (he  was  now  being  paid  a  fixed  sum  by  the  year 
for  his  labours  was  raised  from  500  ducats,  at  which  it  had 
been  fixed  in  1640,  to  700  ducats. 

Passing  by  way  of  Malaga  he  arrived  at  the  port  of  Genoa, 
where  he  did  not  delay  long  enough  to  "take  more  than  a  rapid 
glance  at  its  noble  palaces  and  churches.  Milan,  Padua,  and 
Venice  came  next,  but  these  cities  too  were  only  hastily  surveyed. 

^  Cean  Bermudez  refers  to  documents  to  that  effect,  which  had  apparently 
come  uuder  his  own  eye. 


60 


VELAZQUEZ. 


At  the  latter  place  it  is  said  that  he  found  it  not  possible  to 
obtain  more  than  five  works — two  by  Titian,  two  by  Veronese, 
and  a  sketch  by  his  favourite  Tintoretto.  Bologna  was  now 
revisited,  and  then  he  passed  by  way  of  Modena,  Parma,  and 
Florence,  to  Rome.  But  for  the  moment  the  imperial  city  was 
to  be  only  a  halting-place  on  the  road. 

Hastening  on  southward  to  JNTaples  he  was  soon  in  communica- 
tion with  the  Count  of  Oiiate  touching  the  matter  of  his  visit. 
That  nobleman  had  recently  superseded  Don  Juan,  who  had 
been  stamping  out  the  rebellion  that  followed  the  Massaniello 
outbreak,  and  was  now  Viceroy.  Having  assured  himself  of  his 
co-operation,  Velazquez  was  free  to  abandon  himself  for  a  time 
to  the  pleasure  of  renewing  his  old  acquaintance  with  Eibera, 
still  a  voluntary  exile.  There  was  much  Spanish  news  of 
interest  for  the  one  to  hear,  and  many  a  tale  of  events  that 
had  happened  in  Italy  since  they  had  met  for  the  other  to  be 
entertained  with  in  return. 

Velazquez  presently  made  his  way  back  to  Eome.  At  this 
time  the  occupant  of  the  Papal  chair  was  Innocent  X.,  who  did 
not  allow  him  to  remain  long  in  the  city  without  summoning 
him  to  paint  his  portrait.  This  work  now  hangs  in  the  Doria- 
Pamphili  palace,  and  is,  in  the  opinion  of  Ford,  the  only  real 
specimen  of  his  art  in  that  capital.  It  is  one  of  that  host  of 
pictures  about  each  of  which  is  told  the  universal  story,  with 
more  or  less  of  variation.  Here,  as  the  scene  is  the  Papal  Court, 
it  is  a  chamberlain  who  is  dragged  to  the  front.  He  appears 
catching  a  glimpse  of  the  work  through  an  open  door,  and 
^'  cautioning  his  fellow-courtiers  to  converse  in  low  tones,  as 
His  Holiness  was  in  the  next  room."  The  work  by  Velazquez 
representing  this  subject  at  Apsley  House  is  a  clief-d' mivre. 
The  Pope  is  seen  seated,  dressed  in  red,  the  close  red  cap  de- 
scending to  the  ears.  He  wears  both  beard  and  moustache 
marked  by  a  scanty  streakiness.  The  coarse  features,  the  cruel 
straight  mouth,  the  grey-blue  eye,  the  projecting  chin,  are  instinct 


SECOKD  ITALIAN  JOURNEY. 


61 


with  the  life  of  a  most  vivid  reality.  There  is  a  splendid  bronze 
bust,  supposed  to  represent  this  Pope,  and  to  have  been  executed 
either  by  Bernini  or  Algardi  (for  they  were  both  at  work  at 
Rome  during  his  lifetime),  preserved  at  the  South  Kensington 
Museum.  But  the  portrait  in  metal  is  suggestive  of  majestic 
dignity  and  high  intellectual  faculties,  qualities  which  we  fail  to 
discern  on  the  more  truthful  canvas.  Of  Innocent  X.  two 
other  portraits  attributed  to  Velazquez  exist  in  England,  one  at 
Luton  House,  the  other  at  Bowood.  While  the  Spanish  painter 
was  in  his  capital  the  Pontiff  was  busy  rearing  the  new  Pamphili 
palace,  on  the  frescoes  of  which  Pietro  da  Cortona  was  employed. 

To  this  period  may  perhaps  be  referred  with  some  certainty 
sundry  of  the  pictures  which  at  present  figure  in  the  list  of 
Yelazquez's  works  without  date  or  special  indication.  He  must 
by  this  time  have  become  a  free  and  rapid  painter,  and  could 
therefore  well  have  executed  a  good  deal  without  interfering 
with  his  business  as  a  collector.  Palomino  names  portraits  of 
the  Pope's  nephew  and  of  Olympia  Maldalchini  as  having  come 
into  being  in  this  way  now,  but  the  details  of  this  second  Italian 
journey  are  very  meagre.  After  a  year  or  two  of  absence,  the 
principal  part  of  which  it  is  thought  Velazquez  spent  in  Rome, 
we  hear  of  him  as  finding  his  way  northward  to  Genoa  for  the 
purpose  of  embarking  for  home. 


1651—1659. 

Velazquez  returned  to  Spain  about  the  middle  of  1651.  He 
had  left  his  collections  to  follow^  in  the  charge  of  the  Ambassador 
at  Naples  whenever  that  functionary's  term  of  ofhce  should  be 
over.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  his  own  return  was,  as  the 
accounts  state,  by  way  of  Barcelona,  for  that  city  was  then  in  the 
hands  of  the  French ;  but  a  sufficient  reason  for  his  putting  the  art 
treasures  into  the  hands  of  the  Count  of  Onate  already  existed 
in  the  practical  impossibility  of  his  undertaking  the  transport  of 
such  a  large  number  of  heavy  statues  with  his  own  slender  retinue. 


62 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Pacheco's  '  Arte  do  la  Pintura '  was  published  at  Seville  in 
1649,  during  Velazquez's  absence  in  Italy,  and  consequently  from 
that  date  Ave  lose  the  benefit  of  his  invaluable  guidance  as  a 
chronicler,  and  have  to  trust  to  other  authorities.  His  notice  of 
his  son-in-law  really  concludes  with  his  appointment  to  the  office 
of  Chamberlain.  A  new  and  more  valuable  post  fell  vacant  in 
1652,  through  Pedro  de  Torres  being  promoted  to  be  the  king's 
secretary.  It  was  that  of  Aposentador  Mayor,  or  Quarter-master 
Eoyal.  Velazquez  made  application  for  the  place  as  one  singularly 
suited  to  his  genius  and  occupation,  consulted  as  he  had  been  for 
years  about  the  arrangement  of  the  decorations  of  his  Majesty's 
rooms.  There  were  on  the  list  four  or  five  other  candidates,  and 
none  of  the  Lords  Recommendatory  gave  Velazquez's  name  the 
first  place.  Among  the  names  mentioned  was  that  of  Don  Joseph 
Nieto,  who  was  filling  the  corresponding  post  in  the  Queen's 
household.  The  Marquis  of  Malpica  urged  that,  in  any  case, 
the  choice  ought  to  fall  on  some  one  well  up  in  geography,  while 
one  Rodriguez  was  objected  to  for  not  knowing  his  arithmetic  ! 
Regardless  of  the  preferences  of  the  various  members  of  the 
board  of  advice,  the  king  named  Velazquez,  and  there  was  no 
more  to  be  said.  The  new  officer  took  the  oaths  on  the  5th 
of  March,  1652. 

The  following  year  was  marked  by  the  return  of  the  Viceroy 
from  IN'aples.  He  came  bringing  with  him  the  treasures  that 
Velazquez  had  collected  in  Italy.  The  scheme  for  the  new 
Academy  had  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced  for  the  statuary  to 
be  used  for  that  object,  so  that  whatever  might  have  been  the 
intention  for  the  future,  it  was  for  the  present  utiliseil  for  the 
decoration  of  a  new  octagon  hall  (with  the  recent  construction 
of  which  Velazquez  had  been  to  some  extent  concerned),  and  for 
ornamenting  the  palace  staircases.  Over  the  unpacking,  examin- 
ation, and  final  arrangement  of  these  statues  many  pleasant  days 
were  doubtless  spent. 

Velazquez's  time,  too,  must  have  been  at  first  somewhat  over. 


LAS  HILANDERAS. 


63 


occupied  with  the  claims  of  his  new  office,  examining  and  taking 
over  the  accounts  of  his  predecessor,  and  giving  needful  orders 
for  renewing,  as  occasion  required,  the  furniture  and  hangings 
of  the  royal  apartments, — for  such  matters  as  these  now  came 
within  the  scope  of  his  daily  duties.  There  were  still  the  usual 
number  of  claimants  for  his  attention  as  a'portrait-painter.  Fore- 
most among  them  would  be  Philip's  new  queen,  Mariana  of 
Austria  (his  Majesty's  French  Consort  had  died  in  1645),  and 
the  king  himself,  for  the  sovereign  never  grew  tired  of  seeing 
his  image  reflected  on  Velazquez's  canvas.  Then  there  were 
Court  jesters  and  dwarfs,  the  privileged  liahitues  of  the  reception 
chamber,  to  be  similarly  dealt  with;  while  other  notabilities, 
lofty  dukes'  and  proud  hidalgos,  whose  homes  might  be  beyond 
the  precincts  of  the  palace,  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  earliest 
moments  of  the  painter's  leisure. 

This  period  too  witnessed  the  production  of  a* larger  com- 
position, known  as  The  Tapestry  Weavers  {Las  Hilanderas), 
which  is  thus  described  : — 

In  a  chamber  presenting  the  form  of  a  chapel  with  an  apse 
illuminated  on  the  left  by  the  rays  of  two  windows,  a  woman  of 
mature  age,  her  head  covered  with  a  thin  white  stuff,  is  busy 
plying  her  wheel.  Her  face  is  turned  to  hold  a  conversation 
with  a  fellow- workwoman,  while  a  third  member  of  the  party 
dressed  in  green  stretches  out  a  beautiful  bare  arm  as  she  reels 
what  has  been  already  spun.  In  the  mid-distance  another  figure 
dressed  in  scarlet  is  at  work  with  a  distaff,  the  colour  of  her 
garment  being  much  subdued  by  the  deep  shadows  of  the  room. 
In  the  back-ground,  lit  by  a  ray  of  light  entering  through  a 
window  that  is  not  shown,  three  ladies  appear  regarding  some 
tapestries  ^  hung  up  for  their  inspection. 

In  March  1654  Velazquez  was  no  doubt  present  at,  and 

^  We  learn  from  Riano  that  Antonio  Ceron  was  in  charge  of  the  tapestry 
manufactory  in  the  Calle  de  Santa  Isabel  in  1G25.  The  date  of  the  first 
commencement  of  the  manufacture  in  Spain  is  uncertain. 


64 


VELAZQUEZ. 


possibly  not  quite  an  idle  spectator  of,  the  famous  Inauguration 
of  the  Pantheon  at  the  Escorial.  Thither  were  borne,  in  the 
23resence  of  all  that  could  lend  dignity  to  a  scene  so  solemn,  the 
ashes  of  the  great  departed  of  the  Spanish  House  of  Austria — 
Carlos  Y.  and  his  Empress  Dona  Isabel,  Philip  11.  and  his 
Consort  Dona  Anna,  Philip  III.  and  his  Queen  Dona  Margarita 
de  Austria,  and  there  they  were  laid  in  their  last  resting-place. 
The  remembrance  of  the  scene  must  have  risen  up  before  the 
eyes  of  Velazquez  as  he  strove  to  picture  to  himself  the  friendly 
gathering  of  artists  in  far-off  Seville,  that  a  few  months  later  laid 
to  rest,  with  less  costly  display,  but  with  greater  depth  of  feeling, 
the  form  of  his  valued  father-in-law  and  kind  old  master  Pacheco. 

We  have  yet  to  give  a  description  of  a  work  which  is  reckoned 
high,  if  not  highest,  among  Velazquez's  cliefs-d'oeuvre.  It  is 
generally  referred  to  the  year  1656,  and  the  scene  it  represents 
is  as  follows : — 

The  painter  stands  at  his  easel  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the 
palace.  Though  the  king  and  queen  are  not  in  sight,  their  figures 
being  supposed  to  be  placed  beyond  the  canvas,  we  see  them 
in  the  reflection  of  a  mirror  suspended  on  the  further  wall.  The 
little  princess  Margarita  Maria,  some  four  or  five  years  old,  occupies 
a  prominent  position  in  the  foreground.  She  is  attended  by  her 
maids  of  honour  (young  demoiselles  of  high  degree,  from  whose 
presence  the  picture  takes  its  name  of  Las  Meninas),  one  of 
whom  kneels  to  hand  the  princess  a  cup  of  water,  ^fear  to  this 
group  are  shown  two  well-known  dwarfs,  Barbola  and  Pertusato, 
sporting  with  a  huge  mastiff.  A  flood  of  light  streams  in  from 
an  open  door  far  down  the  room,  where  Don  Joseph  Meto,  the 
Queen's  quartermaster,  has  just  raised  a  curtain.  Two  other 
personages  of  the  Court  converse  apart,  barely  distinguishable  in 
the  darkness  of  the  shadows. ^ 

^  Luca  Giordano  is  said  to  have  paid  this  picture  the  compliment  of 
entithng  it  La  TheoJogia  de  la  Pintura,  au  expression  which  may  be 
interpreted  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  reader. 


LAS  MENINAS. 


65 


The  chamber  into  which  we  are  here  supposed  to  have  been 
looking  no  longer  exists.  In  1734  a  disastrous  fire  broke  out  in 
the  old  Alcazar  of  Madrid,  in  which  perished  we  know  not  how 
many  priceless  works  painted  by  A^elazquez's  hand,  and  from 
the  destruction  occasioned  by  which  there  escaped  but  few  of 
all  the  numerous  specimens  of  sculpture  that  had  been  the  fruit 
of  his  Italian  wanderings.  The  whole  palace  sank  into  a 
charred  mass  of  ruins. 

In  the  picture  just  described  the  figure  of  the  painter  appears 
decorated  with  the  cross  of  Santiago — that  highly-coveted  honour, 
the  proud  badge  of  knighthood.  The  story  of  his  receiving  it  is 
this  :  The  king,  when  the  painting  of  Las  Meninas  was  finished, 
was  greatly  delighted  with  it,  and  pretending  to  be  carefully 
examining  it  on  the  easel,  remarked  suddenly  that  there  was 
something  yet  wanting  to  make  it  perfect.  Suiting  the  action  to 
the  word,  he  seized  one  of  the  studio  brushes,  and'dipping  it  in 
carmine,  hastily  sketched  in,  with  his  own  royal  hand,  on  the 
figure  of  the  painter  in  the  picture,  the  cross  of  Santiago. 

That  coloured  symbol  still  glows  on  the  breast  of  the  artist's 
effigy.  That  he  was  admitted  into  the  Order  seems  to  be  indis- 
putable, only  some  reasons  are  adduced  for  referring  the  date  of 
his  admission  to  a  period  two  or  three  years  later.  We  must 
not,  therefore,  even  at  the  loss  of  our  story,  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  voice  of  the  critic,  suggesting  that  this  record  of  the  honour 
was  added  "  by  command,"  and  possibly  not  added  till  after  the 
painter's  decease. 

One  word  about  Velazquez's  school.  Imitators  and  followers 
he  may  have  had,  but  in  the  sense  of  keeping  a  studio  for  im- 
parting the  principles  of  his  art  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  had 
anything  of  the  kind  at  all.  The  biographies  name  as  his 
pupils  Del  Mazo,  Pareja,  Alfaro,  Murillo,  &c.  If  Pareja  learnt 
anything  from  him  it  was  par  hazard.  Murillo,  we  have  seen, 
profited  by  his  advice,  but  he  could  not  without  doing  violence 

V  F 


66 


VELAZQUEZ. 


to  language  be  called  his  scholar.  Alfaro  is  a  very  misty 
character,  and  Del  Mazo  was  as  old  a  man,  if  not  an  older  man, 
than  his  father-indaw. 

The  mention  of  Alfaro  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  a  small 
work,  on  the  title-page  of  which  his  name  occurs,  and  which  has 
been  held  to  be  the  one  link  needful  for  justifying  the  enrol- 
ment of  Velazquez's  name  among  the  litterateurs  of  his  country. 
The  following  quotation  from  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell's  '  Annals 
of  the  Artists  of  Spain '  will  best  explain  the  state  of  our  know- 
ledge touching  the  matters  to  which  this  work  refers  up  to  quite 
a  recent  date. 

From  1656  to  the  end  of  his  life  the  occupations  of  Velasquez 
seldom  allowed  him  to  enjoy  the  tranquillity  of  his  studio.  In 
that  year  he  was  employed  to  superintend  the  arrangement  of  a 
quantity  of  pictures  in  the  Escorial.  This  collection  consisted 
of  fortj^-one  pieces  purchased  from  the  Whitehall  gallery,  of 
some  which  he  had  himself  brought  from  Italy,  and  of  others 
presented  to  the  king  by  the  Count  of  Castrillo,  an  ex-viceroy  of 
Naples.  Having  placed  them  to  the  best  advantage  in  the 
palace-convent,  he  drew  up  a  catalogue  of  the  whole,  noting  the 
position,  painter,  history,  and  merits  of  each  picture,  a  paper 
which  probably  guided  Fray  Francisco  de  los  Santos  in  his 
description  of  the  Escorial,  and  may  perhaps  still  exist  in  the 
royal  archives," 

In  1871  Don  Alfonso  de  Castro,  a  bibliophile  of  Cadiz,  laid 
before  the  Spanish  world  of  letters  a  pamphlet  purporting  to 
have  been  printed  at  Kome  under  Alfaro's  direction  in  1658,^ 
and  to  contain  the  catalogue  drawn  up  by  Velazquez.  Alfaro 
was  then  but  eighteen  years  old.  We  have  no  account  of  his 
having  ever  visited  Eome, 

On  examining  the  contents  of  the  pamphlet  we  first  encounter 
a  preface  containing  a  reference  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  his 
efforts,  at  Madrid  and  elsewhere,  to  collect  pictures  wherewith 
'*  For  the  title-page  of  this  pamphlet  see  Appendix,  Note  C. 


Raphael's  perla. 


67 


to  decorate  his  palaces  at  "  Guesmenster "  and  "  Nonciiitem." 
We  are  then  told  how,  at  the  sale  of  his  treasures,  Haro  in- 
structed the  Spanish  ambassador  to  spare  no  expense  in  securing 
the  best  of  them — how  they  thus  came  to  Spain,  and  reached  the 
king,  who  hung  them  in  his  palace. 

[Hereabouts  Velazquez  refers  to  (or  is  supposed  to  refer  to)  his 
master  as  "  Jupiter."]  We  then  get  an  account  in  detail  of 
several  of  the  more  important  of  the  forty-one  pictures  presently 
removed.  If  Velazquez  actually  wrote  the  notice  of  the  first  of 
these  there  can  be  no  longer  any  doubt  of  his  admiration  of 
Eaphael's  power.  It  is  a  description  of  "  La  Perla,"  and  con- 
tains expressions  such  as  these  : — *'  The  whole  being  of  rare 
excellence  both  in  drafting  and  colour " ;  "  the  pose  and  the 
head  of  the  Virgin  are  something  more  than  human";  "the 
draperies  are  the  ideal  of  correctness  "  ;  "  one  could  never  go  too 
far  in  one's  praise  of  the  feeling  and  care  apparent  throughout 
this  production."  His  admiration  of  the  rendering  of  tissues 
breaks  out  still  more  forcibly  in  the  presence  of  a  work  by 
Andrea  del  Sarto.  He  terms  a  green  robe  with  which  he  is 
there  enraptured  "  tunicela  verde  divinamente  laborada"  But 
did  he  really  write  the  catalogue  we  here  have  before  us  ] 


CHAPTER  VIL 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 

1^^  treating  of  Velazquez  as  an  artist  we  find  ourselves  face  to 
face  with  the  enquiry,  What  is  it  that  stands  out  as  the 
main  characteristic  of  his  works'? 

Our  answer  is  at  hand.  It  is,  first  and  foremost,  his  singular 
and  entire  devotion  to  truth.  From  the  earliest  commence- 
ment of  his  life  as  an  artist  he  has  given  himself  with  the  most 
entire  and  complete  openhandedness  to  sincerity  of  treatment. 
However  poor,  meagre,  or  insignificant  in  form  or  colouring,  the 
objects  that  he  has  from  time  to  time  undertaken  to  represent — 
he  has  made  it  his  first  duty,  his  prominent  and  visible  aim, 
to  approach  as  nearly  as  his  art  will  admit  to  actual  reproduc- 
tion. No  pains  have  been  spared,  no  labour  of  primary  or 
repeated  toil  has  been  deemed  too  great,  to  achieve  this  one  result. 
His  first  master,  Herrera  el  Viejo,  is  said  to  have  worked,  design- 
ing and  colouring  with  one  and  the  same  stroke,  with  brushes  of 
unusual  length,  and  with  a  boldness  and  freedom  of  hand  that 
stamped  his  individual  character  strongly  upon  the  works  he 
threw  off.  Velazquez  clearly  was  but  a  boy  when  he  left  that 
master's  studio,  but  the  impressions  he  received  there  would 
have  been  implanted  at  a  time  when  the  mind  is  highly  retentive. 
The  processes  he  observed  in  daily  use  would  have  stamped 
themselves  indeliV)ly  on  his  memory.  Later  on,  when  working 
under  Pacheco's  roof,  he  not  merely  made  studies  of  objects 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 


69 


of  still  life,  such  as  would  be  furnished  by  the  markets  or  streets 
of  Seville — at  first  as  single  objects,  gradually  passing  on  to 
grouping  and  composition — producing  thus  specimens  of  work  of 
a  kind  of  which  we  have  numerous  examples,  of  a  date  a  century 
later,  from  the  brush  of  the  French  painter  Chardin ;  but  he  also 
proceeded  by  processes  equally  laborious  to  acquaint  himself 
with  the  mysteries  that  surrounded  the  successful  reproduction 
of  the  features  of  his  fellow-men.  With  this  in  view  he  kept  as 
a  model  a  peasant  lad,  whose  physiognomy  was  called  upon  to 
fashion  itself  in  turn  to  the  semblance  of  all  the  various  passions 
that  enliven  or  distort  the  human  face  divine.  Laughter, 
sorrow,  joy — the  whole  series  was  unflinchingly  attacked  by  the 
intelligent  and  indefatigable  toiler.  This  constant  practice  gave 
him  extraordinary  command  over  the  technicalities  of  portrait - 
painting,  as  his  earlier  studies  had  made  him  master  of  the 
difficulties  of  surface  and  texture. 

Broadly  it  may  be  said  that  Pacheco  gave  him  his  rules,  but  his 
personal  individuality  did  not  permit  itself  to  be  limited  by  them. 
He  seized  with  avidity  all  that  there  was  of  essence  and  of  sweet- 
ness in  the  flowers  placed  before  him,  but  it  was  that  he  might 
distil  from  them  in  the  alembic  of  his  own  pre-eminent  genius  a 
yet  subtler  and  more  dainty  perfume.  The  world  that  ventures 
within  its  range  struggles  helplessly  against  the  all-potent  charm. 

As  the  result  of  such  careful  and  constant  assiduity  he  acquired 
a  marvellous  facility  of  hand.  Of  the  details  of  his  daily  toil  as 
a  student,  further  than  what  has  been  already  mentioned,  we  have 
but  scanty  information,  only  we  know  that  he  drew  freely  with 
black  and  white  on  a  coloured  paper.  ^    That  part  of  Pacheco's 

^  It  is  remarked  by  Ford,  who  had  perhaps  better  opportunities  of 
forming  a  correct  opinion  than  any  other  Englishman  since  the  time  of 
Philip  IV.,  that  Velazquez  "  seems  to  have  drawn,  improvised  as  it  were, 
on  the  canvas,  for  sketches  or  previous  studies  on  paper  are  very  seldom 
to  be  met  with."  But  this,  it  would  seem,  is  rather  meant  as  a  remark 
applicable  to  his  custom  in  maturer  hfe,  —  the  "  drawing  on  coloured 
paper,"  for  which  Pacheco  is  our  authority,  having  been  the  process  adopted 


70 


VELAZQU  EZ. 


*  Arte  de  la  Pintura'  which  treats  of  the  technicahties  of  the 
Art  will  give  the  curious  further  particulars  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  rules  that  must  have  prevailed  under  that  master's  regime. 
It  has  been  made  a  charge  against  Velazquez,  that  he  was  guilty 
of  a  tendency  towards  selecting  unworthy  forms,  and  it  is  true  that 
the  course  of  study  which  had  developed  his  powers  of  treating 
surface  and  texture,  and  had  guided  him  safely  through  the 
mysteries  of  perspective,  had  not  lain  through  flowery  fields  of 
delicate  phantasy.  The  hard,  rongh  materials  which  obtrude 
their  angles  at  every  turn  of  daily  life  had  been  the  elements 
with  which  his  earlier  hoars  of  study  were  most  familiar.  And 
when  he  had  passed  beyond  the  study  of  the  inanimate,  and  was 
bent  on  higher  flights,  in  the  selection  of  his  human  models  no 
wide  range  of  choice  could  be  his.  He  had  to  content  himself 
with  a  single  form,  and  that,  so  to  speak,  the  first  that  chance 
brought  to  hand,  his  solitary  Andalucian  peasant  lad.  The 
innate  powers  of  the  art  of  portraiture  to  become^^er  .50  elevating 
to  the  artist  are  circumscribed  by  limits  that  seem  ever  and  ever 
narrowing.  Deficiencies  in  the  intellectual  develojDmerit  of  the 
subjects  with  which  it  has  to  deal,  no  less  than  deficiencies  in 
respect  of  form  and  figure,  are  apt  to  drag  down,  as  with  a  subtle 
unseen  influence,  the  spirit  that  in  other  branches  of  the  painter's 
art  might  breathe  a  purer  air,  and  expand  unfettered.  A  study 
of  dwarfs  must  ever  be  the  reverse  of  ennobling,  and  to  keep 
one's  self  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  consciousness  of  the 

"  Divinity  that  doth  hedge  a  king," 
as  never  to  lose,  rather  than  to  gain,  by  painting  royalty,  must 
be  at  times  a  task  of  consummate  difficulty.  To  each  and  all  of 
these  dangers  in  turn  was  the  pathway  our  painfertrod  exposed. 
For  free  agents  to  err  in  their  choice  between  what  is  worthy  of 
per^Detuation  and  what  is  unworthy  is  by  no  means  uncommon. 

in  earlier  years,  and  possibly  not  continued  after  he  was  freed  from  the 
shackles  of  the  studio.  We  may  fairly  conclude  that  even  prior  to  that 
moment  he  was  using  Herrera's  holder  process  from  time  to  time. 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 


71 


Our  painter  was  not  even  a  free  agent.  The  hired  servant  of  a 
monarch  may  ofttimes  in  the  privacy  of  his  chamber  sigh  over 
the  lack  of  independence  which  is  the  penalty  that  must  almost 
inevitably  be  paid  for  the  boon  of  freedom  from  worldly  pressure 
and  cares  of  daily  maintenance. 

When  Velazquez  steps  out  of  the  region  of  ordinary  routine 
duties,  and,  released  for  the  moment  from  the  ties  of  royal  com- 
mands and  commissions,  goes  forth  into  paths  that  admit  of 
greater  play  for  originality,  we  find  him  much  more  free  from 
this  defect,  though  something  of  the  leaven  still  clings  to  him. 

For  those  who  would  enquire  whether  unworthiness  of  form 
is  a  rej)roach  fairly  to  be  cast  on  all  that  the  brush  and  palette 
of  Spain  have  ever  produced  for  us,  a  reply  is  ready  at  hand. 
Most  admirable  as  his  work  has  been,  whatever  even  the  great 
Murillo  has  bequeathed  to  us  must,  when  placed  in  the  same  scale 
with  a  "  Madonna  di  San  Sisto,"  a  "  Madonna  di  Foligno,"  or  a 
"Transfiguration,"  suffer  by  the  comparison,  as  of  a  verity  contain- 
ing more  of  this  lower  earth.  Eaphael  has  gone  forth  shaking  from 
him  the  fetters  of  this  world  below,  and  of  its  manifestations  of 
mere  feeble  inferior  human  life  on  earth,  to  paint  us  a  creation  of 
an  upper  realm.  Murillo — vast  as  his  power  of  emancipating  him- 
self in  the  same  direction  undoubtedly  was.  and  standing  forward 
as  he  does  as  by  far  the  most  prominent  instance  that  Spanish 
art  can  produce  of  anything  approaching  inspiration  under  the 
spell  of  the  religious  element — is  yet  held  chained  a  step  nearer 
earth.  One  j^roof  of  this  is  to  be  seen  in  the  strong  localisation  of 
his  figures.  His  madonnas  could  not  have  l)reathed  an  universal 
air,  they  must  inhale  the  atmosphere  of  Spain,  and  of  Spain 
alone.  In  purity  of  conception,  making  all  that  lai'ge  allowance 
w^hich  can  fairly  be  claimed  (men  are  perhaps  but  dimly  con- 
scious how  difficult  it  is  to  avoid  being  unduly  biassed  in  forming 
comparisons  between  purely  secular  works  and  those  that  deal 
with  the  pious  sentiment),  he  certainly  far  out-distanced  the  great 
Velazquez.    In  their  search  for  truth  of  expression  and  the 


72 


VELAZQUEZ. 


genuine  realities  of  nature  the  two  great  champions  of  the  art 
walk  hand  in  hand. 

It  is  but  fitting  that  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  existence 
of  this  weakness,  tliis  shadow  that  with  more  or  less  transpar- 
ency falls  athwart  the  rays  that  flash  from  the  gleaming  diamond: 
for  the  praise  which  is  our  painter's  due  must  not  lack  its  legiti- 
mate counterpoise.  Eeadily,  indeed,  shall  we  pardon  a  defect 
that,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  result  of  the  operation  of  external 
causes  rather  than  of  any  individual  shortcoming,  when  once  in 
the  presence  of  his  actual  works.  Paintings  so  sincere  and  real, 
so  free  from  any  approach  to  artistic  trick,  so  charming  in  their 
tone  of  simple,  open-hearted  frankness,  win  us  at  once ;  and,  lost 
in  admiration,  we  cease  to  criticise. 

The  arrangement  of  his  groups  in  composite  pictures  is  indi- 
cative of  very  careful  study.  For  details  on  this  point,  criticisms 
by  various  authors  on  particular  pictures  may  be  consulted, 
but  reference  may  be  made  here  to  one  or  two  examples.  The 
Louvre  picture,  known  as  the  Reunion  d' Artistes,  gives  us  a  most 
successful,  if  not  an  absolutely  triumphant,  attempt  at  solving 
the  crucial  difficulty  of  representing  with  equal  honours  a  series 
of  upwards  of  a  dozen  personages  in  a  single  tableau.  To  right 
and  to  left  of  the  central  cluster  groups,  each  consisting  of 
three  figures,  are  thrown  off,  two  only  out  of  the  figures  in  each 
group  presenting  the  full  face — an  arrangement  by  which  an 
appearance  of  much  variety  is  produced.  Approaching  nearer 
the  centre  we  come  upon  two  minor  offshoots,  a  pair  of  figures 
in  each,  one  only  of  the  pair  pourtrayed  with  full  front  face. 
The  three  central  heads  are  then  arranged  in  a  dignified  but 
not  obtrusive  cluster.  Again,  though  the  figures  at  first  sight 
appear  simply  posed  on  a  common  greensward,  there  is  a  subtle 
curvature  of  the  line  that  conceals  the  fact  that  one  group  is 
really  drawn  on  a  considerably  larger  scale.  With  all  this  group- 
ing nowhere  is  there  an  appearance  of  unease. 

Something  of  the  same  method  may  be  traced,  too,  in  the  work 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 


73 


known  as  Las  Hilanderas.  Here  the  principal  figure  on  the 
right,  on  which  the  strong  mass  of  light  is  concentrated,  is  toned 
down  by  the  immediate  collocation  of  a  minor  repetition  of  itself 
in  the  person  of  a  girl  stooping  forwards  arranging  some  tapestry. 
The  dark  figures  on  the  sombre  back-ground  of  the  opposite  side 
of  the  scene  form  a  counterbalance — the  action  represented,  and 
their  pose  being  all  in  the  direction  of  lines  leading  off  from  the 
too  powerful  rays  that  impinge  upon  the  right-hand  figure.  The 
delicate  artifice  with  which  upon  the  arriere-scene  —  a  tapestry 
hung  up  on  view  in  a  recess — each  of  the  main  elements  of  the 
fore-plot  is  reproduced  under  other  forms  is  exceedingly  clever 
in  conception. 

As  a  colourist  too  Velazquez  was  great — great  in  his  powers 
of  rejection,  and  masterly  in  the  selection  of  the  elements  that 
should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  his  scheme.  His  method  of 
treatment,  if  modified  to  some  extent,  as  has  been  elsewhere 
suggested,  by  contact  with  Venetian  art,  was  essentially  Spanish ; 
but  it  was  an  Espanolismo  sublimated  and  refined  to  the 
furthest  point  of  perfection.  In  that  country,  rich  in  the  joint 
contributions  of  imported  art  and  native  talent,  whether  the 
traveller  enter  the  Convent,  the  Cloister,  or  the  Cathedral,  or 
wander  tlirough  the  portrait-crowded  saloons  of  the  palace,  from 
Burgos  to  Granada,  from.  Cadiz  to  Tarragona,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  Spanish  art  of  tlie  middle  ages 
will  appear  dark  and  sombre  to  the  eye.  The  outburst  of  glorious 
colour — the  gift  of  other  lands — that  the  Madrid  Museum  will 
have  in  store  for  him  will  be  as  overwhelming  as  it  will  have 
been  utterly  undreamt  of.  The  Spaniard's  gaze  rests  not  on  the 
blue  waters  of  an  ever-present  ocean,  or  even  on  the  unscorching 
azure  of  an  Italian  sky,  it  is  bent  rather  on  his  rugged  sierras 
and  on  his  vast  plains  of  brown,  where  not  even  his  flocks  and 
herds  mar  the  harmony  of  monotony  by  variation.  Our  artist, 
a  Spaniard  by  birth,  brought  up  among  Spaniards  and  learning 
his  craft  at  the  feet  of  Spanish  teachers,  was  human,  and  felt 


74 


VELAZQUEZ. 


his  humanity.  It  was  not  for  him  to  abandon  the  firm  foundation 
he  felt  beneath  him  to  lose  himself  amid  attempts  after  the  more 
brilliant  contrasts  and  more  glowing  palette  of  Italian  schools. 
His  tone  must  be  in  harmony  with  his  old  surroundings.  Even 
when  fresh  from  his  first  visit  to  Venice  his  spirit  had  felt 
strongly  the  points  of  contact  that  existed  between  himself  and 
the  brother  Spaniard  whom  he  encountered  in  the  studios  of 
Naples  ;  and  doubtless  the  alliance  was  mutually  effective  in 
binding  them  both  to  a  closer  allegiance  to  their  national 
idiosyncrasies.  A  single  instance  (one  all  the  more  available  for 
us  Englishmen,  in  that  it  can  be  seen  at  our  own  door^)  will  be 
ample  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  his  peculiar  chariness  in  the 
use  of  colour.  We  have  each  and  all  seen  again  and  again  por- 
traits of  distinguished  personages  of  our  own  country  clad  in  the 
brilliancy  of  our  military  scarlet.  Not  a  year  passes  over  our 
heads  but  our  exhibitions  show  us  one  or  more  Lord  Lieutenants 
decked  in  this  dazzling  panoply.  But  if  we  try  to  recall  the 
image  left  upon  the  retina,  what  is  there  1  A  broad  sweep  of 
vermilion  surmounted  by  a  head  which  we  cannot  bring  back  to 
mind  without  an  effort.  Velazquez  has  had  a  similar  task  before 
him,  but  how  has  ho  acquitted  himself?  Pushed  out  of  the 
sphere  of  his  favourite  browns  and  greys  by  the  imperative 
demands  of  the  apparel  of  his  subject,  he  too  has  dipped  his 
brush  in  glowing  reds.  But  how  warily  has  he  gone  to  work 
with  them !  How  deftly  has  he  reduced  their  glare,  and  sobered 
their  power  of  obtrusiveness  !  And  then  the  fiash  of  silver 
ornaments  profusely  overlaid  upon  the  dress  is  rendered  by 
whites  that  have  been  thrice  dijjped  in  some  Stygian  stream. 
Tliey  have  dried  crisply  while  yet  the  traces  of  their  bath  were 
streaming  from  them,  and  even  the  highest  lights  are  per  se 
shadowy  and  dull.  But  let  us  retire  a  little  way,  and  bid  the 
air  fiow  in  between  us  and  the  work.  We  exclaim,  "  What  a 
charming  dress  ! "  "  How  sash  and  sword  handle  gleam  with 
1  Dulwich  Gallery,  No.  309. 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 


75 


silver  1 "  "There  is  princely  apparel  indeed  !  "  And  now  how 
the  head  looks  out  upon  us.  We  shall  never  forget  tliat  face. 
Such  is  the  marvellous  effect  that  this  highly  gifted  mind  pro- 
duces for  us,  working  under  a  clear  view  of  the  true  claims  of 
the  adage — ne  qidd  nimis.  It  is,  says  Charles  Blanc  in  his  criti- 
cism on  Velazquez's  colouring,  a  musician  executing  divine 
harmonies  with  only  two  or  three  notes,  where  Eubens  or 
Veronese  would  jouer  a  grand  orcliestre. 

His  varieties  of  style  have  been  classified  in  accordance  with 
divisions  suggested  by  certain  epochs  in  his  life.  They  have  not 
received  any  such  distinctive  titles  as  have  been  given  to  those 
that  mark  the  works  of  his  great  follower  in  the  highest  walks 
of  Spanish  art,  Murillo,  e.  g.  the  frio,  ccdido,  and  vaporoso,  but 
are  confined  to  the  ordinary  nomenclature  of  first,  second,  and 
third.  Taking  the  classification  adopted  by  Madrazo,  the  works 
produced  previous  to  the  time  of  his  first  Italian  visit  in  1629 
are  considered  as  belonging  to  the  first  period.  Such  influences 
as  his  studies  in  that  country  had  upon  his  method  are  supposed 
to  be  traceable  in  the  works  he  left  executed  between  that  date 
and  the  second  occasion  of  his  leaving  Spain  for  Italy,  i.  e.  up 
to  the  year  164:9,  after  which  time  a  difference  again  occurs 
marking  his  third  period.  The  portraits  he  painted  both  early 
and  late  in  his  career  are  so  numerous  that  it  is  better  to  make  a 
selection  from  his  paintings  of  other  subjects  as  samples  of  the 
different  notes  thus  struck.  The  Adoration  of  tlie  Slteplierds,  in 
the  jS'ational  Gallery,  and  the  more  famous  work  Los  Bebedores, 
also  known  as  Los  Borrachos,  are  examples  of  his  earlier  time.  To 
this  point  his  taste  had  been  formed  by  Pacheco  and  the  Sevillans, 
and  modified  by  his  studies  amidst  the  Avorks  of  other  masters 
hanging  on  the  walls  of  the  palaces  at  Madrid,  at  the  Pardo,  or 
at  the  Escoiial,  commenced  in  the  year  1622,  and  continued 
during  his  residence  at  Court.  His  Italian  tour  was  partly  em- 
ployed, as  we  learn  from  Pacheco,  in  sketching  from  the  works 
of  Michelangelo  and  Eaphael.    It  is  the  opinion  of  Sir  AYilliain 


76 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Stirling-Maxwell  that  his  subsequent  productions  show  no  trace 
whatever  of  any  leaning  to  the  Raphaelesque,  but  this  may  have 
been  the  result  of  the  promptings  of  his  own  strong  Spanish 
individuality,  and  not  of  any  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  merits 
of  Urbino's  illustrious  painter. 

We  are  not  called  upon  to  attach  any  value  to  the  account  of 
his  conversation  with  Salvator  Rosa  on  this  subject  given  in 
Eoschini's  work  ;  but  it  is  generally  admitted  that,  so  far  as  his 
individuality  suffered  itself  to  be  fettered  at  all,  it  owed  the 
variation  of  its  after  manifestation  to  the  influence  of  the 
Venetian  school.  The  traces  of  the  change  are  first  noted  in  the 
Forge  of  Vulcan,  executed  in  Italy,  while  from  the  numerous 
works  painted  after  his  return  the  Crticifixion  and  Las  Lanzas 
may  be  selected.  The  three  instances  here  referred  to  as  mark- 
ing his  second  period  are  all  preserved  in  the  Madrid  JMuseum. 
The  terms  "  solid,"  "  brilliant,"  and  "  easy,"  or  rather  the  corre- 
sjDonding  Spanish  words,  have  been  selected  as  applicable  to  their 
characteristics.  Finally  we  come  to  the  period  of  Las  Hihmderas, 
and  of  a  work  which  has  drawn  down  the  highest  encomiums 
from  all,  Las  Meninas,  where  the  painter  himself  appears  at  work 
amid  a  family  group  of  the  blood  royal.  These  are  typical 
specimens  of  his  startling  power  of  creating  true  breadths  of 
light  and  space,  in  which  his  figures  should  in  very  truth  seem 
to  breathe,  and  amid  which  they  should  move  without  restraint. 
He  and  nature  had  formed  a  firm  alliance,  and  neither  the 
delicate  subtleties  of  the  soft  Italian  schools,  nor  the  fantastic 
gorgeousness  of  the  Italo-Flemish  Rubens,  had  power  to  warp 
his  affections  or  to  allure  him  from  a  steadfast  obedience  to  her 
mandates. 

Two  short  quotations,  one  on  his  skill  in  portraiture,  the  other 
on  the  human  element  in  his  work,  may  well  close  this  brief 
attempt  at  delineating  "  Velazquez  as  an  artist."  They  are  both 
from  the  charming  pen  of  that  most  indefatigable  and  talented 
writer,  Richard  Ford. 


VELAZQUEZ  AS  AN  ARTIST. 


77 


"  His  portraits  baffle  description  and  praise.  They  must  be 
seen.  He  elevated  that  humble  branch  to  the  dignity  of  history. 
He  drew  the  minds  of  men — they  live,  breathe,  and  seem  ready 
to  walk  out  of  the  frames.  His  power  of  painting  circumam- 
bient air,  his  knowledge  of  lineal  and  aerial  perspective,  the 
gradation  of  tone  in  light,  shadow,  and  colour,  give  an  absolute 
concavity  to  the  flat  surface  of  his  canvas  :  we  look  into  a 
space,  into  a  room,  into  the  reflection  of  a  mirror.  The  fresh- 
ness, individuality,  and  identity  of  each  person  are  quite 
startling,  nor  can  we  doubt  the  anecdote  related  of  Philip  TV., 
who,  mistaking  for  the  man  the  portrait  of  Admiral  Pareja  in  a 
dark  corner  of  Velasquez's  room,  exclaimed, — he  had  been  ordered 
to  sea,—'  What !  still  here  1 '  " 
and  again — 

ISTo  virgin  ever  descended  into  his  studio.  No  cherubs 
hovered  around  his  pallet.  He  did  not  work  for  priest  or 
ecstatic  anchorite,  but  for  plumed  kings  and  booted  knights ; 
hence  the  neglect  and  partial  faihire  of  his  holy  and  mythological 
pictures, —  holy,  like  those  of  Caravaggio,  innotliing  but  name, — 
groups  rather  of  low  life,  and  that  so  truly  painted  as  still  more 
to  mar,  by  a  treatment  not  in  harmony  with  the  subject,  the 
elevated  sentiment." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


1654—1660. 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY  MISSION  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  GRAMMONT  THE 

ROYAL  PROGRESS  THE  MEETING  IN  THE  ISLE  OF  PHEASANTS  — 

THE    ROYAL   WEDDING  THE  RETURN  TO   MADRID  DEATH  

BURIAL. 

I  ^HE  arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Grammont  at  Madrid  in  the 


JL  middle  of  October  1659,  was  the  first  important  step  taken 
towards  cementing,  by  the  still  closer  union  of  a  royal  marriage, 
a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  rival  powers  of  France  and  Spain. 
On  the  day  of  the  Envoy's  formal  entry  into  that  city  he  was 
met  by  a  company  of  noblemen  of  high  degree,  headed  by  the 
Admiral  of  Castille,  Don  Juan  Gaspar  Enriquez  de  Cabrera. 
Thus  ^escorted  to  the  palace  in  state  he  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  the  king,  who,  surrounded  by  grandees,  received  him 
in  the  "  Golden  Saloon."  The  Monarch  w^as  "  discovered  "  leaning 
against  a  writing  desk  beneath  a  rich  canopy  of  state  that 
glittered  with  jewels.  The  chronicler  dwells  Avith  evident  gusto 
on  the  details  of  the  audience ;  and,  characteristic  as  it  is  of  the 
manners  of  the  time,  we  may  spare  a  few  moments  for  his 
account  of  it.  From  him  we  learn  that  the  Duke  and  the 
Admiral  on  their  entrance  each  made  a  first  and  a  second 
obeisance,  the  Monarch  in  reply  to  the  first  raising  his  sombrero  ; 
the  second  was  the  signal  for  the  Admiral  to  withdraw  to  one 
side,  leaving  the  Duke  to  advance  till  he  reached  his  Majesty's 


THE  DWARF  OF  PHILIP  IV. 
By  Velazquez. 
In  the  Madrid  Gallery, 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY. 


79 


feet.  There  his  reception  was  of  the  most  gracious  kind,  and 
his  Majesty  forthwith  begged  him  to  be  covered. ^  As  the  inter- 
view continued,  and  the  Duke  entered  on  the  business,  and 
delivered  the  messages  of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  he  took  off 
his  hat  and  made  a  profound  reverence  every  time  he  had 
occasion  to  mention  the  name  of  any  royal  personage.  This 
stately  performance  was  brought  to  a  couclusion  by  his  handing 
to  the  King  letters  barely  three  weeks  old,  bearing  the  signatures 
of  the  kiug's  ''good  sister"  Ana,  and  "good  brother"  Luis,  and 
by  a  formal  presentation  of  the  Duke's  sons  and  the  rest  of  his 
French  suite.  A  move  was  then  made  to  the  Queen's  audience 
chamber,  where  a  similar  scene  was  enacted  in  the  august  presence 
of  her  Majesty  and  the  Infantas  Maria  Teresa  and  Margarita, 
letters  being  finally  delivered  to  the  Queen  and  to  the  elder  of 
the  two  princesses. 

On  quitting  the  Palace  the  Duke  and  his  sons  were  driven  by 
the  Admiral  to  quarters  specially  prepared  for  them  on  a  scale 
of  great  splendour  and  magnificence  —  quarters  the  decoration 
and  arrangements  of  which  doubtless  bore  witness  to  the  care 
and  taste  of  Velazquez.  The  sojourn  of  the  Envoy  at  Court  was 
the  signal  for  a  struggle  between  the  gay  and  wealthy  courtiers 
as  to  which  of  them  should  pay  him  most  attention.  Spain  in 
those  days  had  not  fully  earned  her  title  of  "  Non-dinner-giving 
Iberia."  A  splendid  evening  entertainment  was  the  sequel  to  a 
theatrical  performance  given  beneath  the  princely  roof  of  the 
Lord  Admiral — and  the  following  day  the  same  generous  host 
provided  a  meal,  the  particulars  of  which  have  been  put  on 
record  for  the  benefit  of  a  degenerate  posterity.  The  decorations 
and  appointments  of  the  tables,  buffets,  and  sideboards  were  of  the 
most  elegant  and  elaborate  kind,  and  the  tables  d'hote  of  the  most 
celebrated  modern  Continental  hotels  might  well  blush  at  the 
thought  of  having  to  parade  their  menus  in  the  face  of  the 

1  This  was  to  treat  him  as  a  "  Grandee,"  a  member  of  the  highest  rank 
of  Spanish  nobility. 


80 


VELAZQUEZ. 


catalogue  of  dainties.  The  meal  began  between  one  and  two,  and 
lasted  on  far  into  the  evening  of  the  long  autumnal  day.  Eight 
hundred  courses  of  every  consumable  delicacy  were  during  that 
time  handed  to  the  still  wondering,  and  apparently  as  yet  still 
unsated,  guests.  A  further  list  of  liors  cVceuvres  and  of  dishes  of 
dessert  brought  the  number  of  the  2^ldts  up  to  a  thousand.  At 
the  close  of  this  gigantic  repast  there  followed  a  comedy,  but  the 
hospitable  feelings  of  the  admiral  were  not  yet  satisfied,  and  as 
the  play  proceeded  the  guests  were  plied  anew  with  delicacies 
and  sweets,  till  exhausted  nature  at  last  sought  relief  in  flinging 
the  superabundant  good  things  to  the  crowd  beneath  the 
windows. 

These  and  similar  honours  showered  upon  the  French  Envoy 
testified  to  the  general  desire  that  prevailed  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  hopes  that  were  aroused  by  his  mission.  Spain  was 
indeed  anxious  for  peace,  and  France  having  made  the  first 
advance  by  sending  the  letters  which  contained  the  proposals  for 
the  Royal  union,  there  was  no  room  for  Spanish  pride  to  take 
ofience.  Now  that  Philip  had  a  son  to  whom  the  succession 
would  naturally  pass,  he  too  was  only  too  pleased  to  find  the 
path  to  such  a  consummation  so  smooth,  and  he  loaded  the 
ambassador  with  costly  presents  at  his  departure. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  two  Prime  Ministers  Haro  and 
Mazarin  met  on  an  island  in  the  Bidassoa,  a  river  whose  winding 
stream  separates  the  two  realms,  and  there  on  that  nearest 
approximation  to  debateable  ground  that  could  be  found,  drew 
up  and  signed  the  preliminaries  of  peace — the  marriage  of  the 
king  of  Spain's  daughter  Maria  Teresa  to  the  French  monarch 
Louis  XIV.  forming  by  far  the  most  important  clause  in 
the  unwieldy  document.  The  site  of  this  earlier  meeting  was 
soon  to  be  honoured  by  the  presence  of  more  august,  though 
perhaps  of  less  autocratic,  visitors. 

Partly  that  there  should  be  no  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a 
complete  imderstanding,  partly  that  he  might  himself  watch 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY. 


81 


over  the  safety  of  his  daughter  on  so  long  a  journey,  and  also 
partly  from  the  natural  desire  of  seeing  the  bridegroom  of  the 
future,  and  once  again  looking  upon  the  face  of  the  sister  from 
whom  he  had  been  so  long  separated,  Philip  determined  that 
he  would  himself  attend  the  marriage  conference.  This  was  to 
be  held  in  the  island  above  mentioned,  known  as  the  Island  of 
Pheasants.  The  necessary  orders  were  accordingly  issued  at  the 
opening  of  the  new  year,  and  mid- April  was  fixed  as  the  time 
for  the  journey  to  commence.  Earlier  than  that  the  great  uncer- 
tainty of  the-  weather,  and  the  state  of  the  roads,  would  have 
made  such  an  expedition  a  matter  of  grave  difficulty  if  not  of 
actual  hazard. 

The  first  step  taken  was  to  send  forward  Don  Pedro  de 
Salcedo  and  Don  Pedro  Navarro,  two  officers  of  State,i  to  see 
the  roads  put  in  order,  and  to  make  all  the  needful  arrangements 
for  proper  supplies  of  every  kind  being  forthcoming  when 
required.  The  king  determined  to  travel  as  expeditiously  as 
might  be,  and  so  arranged  for  the  greater  part  of  his  Court 
to  remain  behind.  Lists  were  duly  drawn  up  of  those  who 
were  to  join,  and  among  the  names  we  find  those  of  Velazquez 
and  of  his  son-in-law  Juan  Baptista  del  Mazo.^ 

The  fifteenth  of  April  having  at  length  arrived  the  king  left 
his  palace  in  the  early  afternoon,  and  drove  with  his  daughter  to 
the  sanctuary  that  enshrined  the  celebrated  image  of  our  Lady  of 
Atocha.  When  Spanish  Royalty  enters  the  holy  estate  of 
matrimony  it  is  in  the  presence  of  this  silent  witness  that  the 
Church  pronounces  her  blessing.  As  in  the  alliance  now  about 
to  be  consummated  such  a  course  would  be  impossible,  something 

^  We  gather  the  interesting  details  of  this  journey  from  '  Viage  del 
Re,'  the  carefully-compiled  work  of  an  eye-witness,  Leonardo  Castillo,  one  of 
■  the  officers  attached  to  the  Secretary  of  State  who  accompanied  the  king 

2  Velazquez  is  described  as  Cavallero  del  Orden  de  Santiago,  Ayuda  de 
Camara,  and  Aposentador  de  Palacio  (=  Knight  of  Santiago,  Chamberlain, 
and  Grand  Marshal  of  the  Palace)  :  Juan  Baptista  as  Ayuda  de  la 
Furriera. 


82 


VELAZQUEZ. 


at  least  might  be  attained  by  even  a  partial  compliance  with  so 
pious  a  custom.  Before  the  venerated  figure,  black  with  anti- 
quity,' the  departing  princess  paid  her  devotions  with  particular 
fervency,  as  for  the  last  time.  Thence,  seated  beside  her  father 
as  before,  she  passed  out  of  the  city  by  the  Alcala  gate. 

'Not  had  Madrid  meanwhile  been  idle.  From  every  quarter, 
on  foot,  or  horseback,  or  in  carriages,  crowds  had  gathered  and 
swelled,  all  eager  to  do  honour  to  their  monarch's  progress. 
They  surged  around  the  Eoyal  cortege  and  the  train  that 
followed  in  its  wake,  and  which,  after  every  precaution  had  been 
taken  to  reduce  its  size,  was  yet  so  huge.  They  streamed  in 
thousands  out  along  the  high  road.  Hardly  was  it  possible  to 
make  a  pathway  through  them.  For  two  long  Spanish  leagues 
— the  whole  way  to  the  gates  of  the  University  City  of  Alcala 
de  Henares — the  same  state  of  things  prevailed.  It  was  quite 
evening  before  the  king  could  reach  the  place. 

But  arriving  there  at  last  he  found  that  most  loyal  preparations 
had  been  made  for  his  reception.  A  glazed  balcony  had  been 
specially  constructed  for  his  use,  and  thence  when  night  had 
fallen  upon  the  city  he  presently  viewed  a  pastime  of  a  rare  kind 
set  out  in  the  brilliantly-illuminated  Plaza.  It  was  a  bull-fight 
for  which  the  unfortunate  animals  had  been  equipped, — some 
by  having  packs  of  inflammable  material,  tar  and  resin,  strapped 
on  their  backs — others  by  having  their  horns  set  about  with  fire- 
works. These  when  the  sport  began  were  kindled,  and,  what 
with  burning  flames  and  fiery  sparks  and  sudden  explosions, 
the  fury  of  the  poor  brutes  was  roused  to  the  highest  possible 
pitch,  and  the  excitement  and  peril  of  the  combat  rendered 
worthy  of  the  eyes  of  Royalty.  Thus  was  concluded  an  evening 
previously  signalized  by  a  great  public  reception  of  the  authori- 
ties, a  general  illumination,  and  a  lavish  display  of  fireworks. 
The  following  day  the  party  journeyed  on  northwards  to  Guada- 

'  According  to  Villafane,  "it  was  carved,  or  at  least  varnished,  by  St. 
Luke." — Ford. 


DONA  ANTONIA  DAUGHTER  OF  DON  LUIS  DE  HARO 

By  Velazquez. 
tn  the  possession  of  the  Duke  df  Alba 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY. 


83 


laxara,  after  bidding  a  formal  adieu  to  those  who  had  come  so 
far  by  way  of  compliment. 

The  suite  that  still  continued  on  its  way  was  by  no  means  a 
meagre  one.  The  Prime  Minister  Haro  formed  the  most 
prominent  figure  (it  is  said  that  he  thought  less  than  two  hun- 
dred attendants  a  number  too  small  for  his  personal  retinue),  and 
then  we  are  supplied  with  a  long  list  in  which  figure  the  names 
of  the  greatest  houses  of  Spain,  each  in  their  proper  order  of 
precedence.  The  eye  is  bewildered  by  the  profusion  of  Ducal 
and  Seignorial  titles,  distributed  amid  Guzmans,  Fonsecas, 
Mendozas,  Bobadilla?,  Silvas,  Yillamayors,  and  numerous  others. 

To  these  are  added  the  titles  of  Spanish  Ladies  of  Honour 
attached  to  the  household  of  the  young  princess  and  destined  to 
accompany  their  mistress  to  her  future  home.  The  names  of 
great  ecclesiastics  help  to  swell  the  roll,  and  then  we  learn  how 
that  besides  a  long  array  of  functionaries,  among  which  figure 
Doctors,  Surgeons,  and  Sangrados  (those  veritable  leeches  of 
Spain),  the  requirements  of  the  journey  called  for  the  services 
of  a  whole  army  of  Breadmen  and  Meatmen,  Lords  of  the  Spit, 
Clerks  of  the  Store-Closet  and  Rangers  of  the  Larder,  Coachmen, 
Grooms,  Lacqueys,  and  Trumpeters.  Sundry  noblemen  added 
their  train  to  this  moving  column,  not  summoned  as  of  duty, 
but  rendering  voluntary  service,  to  make  the  braver  show. 

Day  by  day  the  caravan  continued  constantly  advancing, 
everywhere  received  with  manifestations  of  the  utmost  loyalty. 
The  larger  towns  would  provide  illuminations  and  fireworks 
on  a  grand  scale,  while  the  smaller  places  taxed  their  ingenuity 
to  arrange  some  fiesta  which  should  be  at  least  suggestive 
of  the  locality.  One  village  would  provide  rustic  dances, 
another  would  rear  a  triumphal  arch  around  which  the  peasants 
arranged  in  responsive  choirs  chanted  alternate  hymns  of 
welcome.  Were  there  a  convent  in  the  way  its  choicest  relics 
were  produced  to  tempt  the  piety  of  the  royal  group  to  halt  for 
an  act  of  worship,  and  the  grateful  inmates  would  then  show 

G  2 


84 


VELAZQUEZ. 


how  even  poor  monks  could  spread  a  banquet  not  unworthy  of  a 
king.    At  Guipuzcoa  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  were  forgotten 
in  the  novelty  of  the  sword-dances,  performed  to  the  most 
orthodox,  if  inharmonious,  accompaniment  of  the  mingled  strains 
of  fife  and  horn.  At  Burgos  letters  from  the  anxious  bridegroom 
bid  the  princess  remember ^that  the  frontier  was  not  really  now 
so  far  away.    On  the  other  hand,  the  journey  was  marked  by  its 
contretemps  of  a  more  or  less  serious  character.    At  Berlanga  the 
enthusiasm  had  been  so  great  that  the  inhabitants  must  needs  fire 
a  salvo  with  such  small  ordnance  as  they  had,  and,  in  the  attempt, 
create  an  involuntary  illumination  by  setting  the  castle  on  fire. 
Elsewhere  heavy  rains  so  checked  the  advance  that  a  halt  had  to 
be  called,  and  quarters  discovered  where  chance  would  allow, 
upsetting  all  the  calculations  of  the  Aposentadores — the  carriages 
coming  thronging  into  the  place  far  into  the  night,  after  a  long 
and  painful  torch-light  struggle  with  the  dangers  of  the  road. 
Sometimes  all  the  preparations  for  a  masquerade  or  other  public 
spectacle  were  rendered  useless  by  the  like  tempestuous  skies. 
Sometimes  the  quarters  chosen  were  so  little  to  the  king's  taste 
that  he  was  fain  to  seek  out  others  without  delay.    And  once  a 
page  slipped  struggling  with  his  horse  into  a  stream,  whence  though 
every  effort  was  made  by  the  Captain  of  the  Guard  offering  in 
loud  tones  a  hundred  crowns  to  whoever  would  effect  a  rescue,  not 
all  the  king's  horses  and  all  the  king's  men  sufficed  to  extricate  him. 

The  journey  to  Burgos  had  occupied  upwards  of  a  week,  and 
nearly  a  week  was  spent  there  ;  after  which  Haro  hurried  on  in 
advance  to  meet  the  French  Prime  Minister,  and  •  get  business 
over,  fearful  lest  the  real  interests  of  Spain  should  be  lost  sight 
of  amid  the  anxieties  of  the  royal  meeting.  May  was  advancing 
as  the  crafty  diplomatists  sat  down  in  solemn  conference,  in  the 
Pavilion  on  the  Pheasants'  Island.  Meantime  the  Eoyal  party, 
moving  forward  to  San  Sebastian,  were  greeted  by  thundering 
salvos  of  artillery.  It  was  no  small  wonder  for  inland  eyes 
to  view  the  ocean  waves,  and  watch  the  huge  floating  castles  of 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY, 


85 


Spanish  maritime  warfare.  Here  water  entertainments  of  various 
kinds  lightened  the  tedium  of  a  somewhat  protracted  stay,  while 
for  visitors  there  came  over  nobles  from  the  Parisian  Court,  and 
among  them  no  less  a  personage  than  the  great  Marshal  Turenne. 

And  now,  what  part  did  Velazquez  take  in  all  these  gay  doings  ] 
It  has  been  not  unfrequently  assumed,  that  the  illness  from 
which  he  suffered  at  the  end  of  the  following  July  was  the  result  of 
the  fatigue  consequent  upon  his  laborious  duties  on  this  progress. 
Palomino  tells  us  of  his  quitting  the  Capital  in  March,  of  the 
particular  orders  he  received,  of  the  figure  he  made  Avith  sword 
and  silver  scabbard  at  the  Chamber  of  Conference,  and  of  his 
being  the  messenger  employed  to  convey  the  rich  presents  that 
King  Louis  XIV.  sent  to  his  father-in-law  when  they  were 
separating.  But  can  we  trust  Palomino's  evidence  1  Ford  speaks 
of  him  as  that  "  credulous  uncritical  Spanish  Vasari."  His 
evidence  in  the  case  of  Velazquez  must  certainly  be  received  with 
the  greatest  caution.  First,  because  Palomino  was  but  a  child 
at  the  death  of  the  painter,  and  his  work  was  not  published  till 
nearly  sixty  years  after  that  event  :  and  next,  because  he  was 
indebted  for  nearly  the  whole  of  his  facts  about  Velazquez's  life 
to  one  Don  Juan  de  Alfaro,  a  personage  who  in  concert  with  his 
brother,  Enriquez  de  Alfaro,  had  written  an  epitaph  on  the 
deceased  artist.  But  what  do  we  know  about  Alfaro  1  He  did 
not  go  on  the  journey  to  France.  His  .name  is  not  on  the  lists  so 
carefully  drawn  up  for  that  progress.  Neither  is  it  prominent 
among  those  of  the  courtier  throng  that  clustered  round  the 
throne  at  Madrid.^   We  are  limited,  then,  as  regards  Velazquez's 

1  Cean  Bermudez  says  he  was  a  painter  of  Cordova,  and  that  after 
quitting  that  place,  he  revisited  it  in  1675,  and  in  1678.  Palomino  was 
born  in  1653,  and  moved  to  Cordova  in  early  youth.  Alfaro  seems,  if  a 
painter,  to  have  been  but  an  amateur.  We  find  a  namesake,  one  Don 
Francisco  de  Alfaro,  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  legal  suit  for  the 
exemption  of  artists  from  taxation,  but  we  do  not  know  that  the  two  were 
in  any  way  connected.  The  epitaph  above  referred  to  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix.  Note  D. 


86 


VELAZQUEZ. 


part  in  this  journey,  to  but  one  or  two  slight  references  of 
undoubted  authenticity.  It  must  be  left  for  imagination  to 
supply  the  details. 

Senor  Zarco  del  Valle  has  discovered  in  the  Eoyal  archives,  a 
document  proving  that  the  painter  left  Madrid  on  the  8th  of 
April,  a  week  before  the  king's  departure,  and  that  in  his 
"  compania  "  was  one  Gaxero,  a  carpenter.  He  travelled  in  a 
litter,  one  of  his  subordinates,  Villareal,  sharing  a  coach  with 
Nieto,  the  queen's  aposentador.  He  also  signed  a  certificate  for 
a  claim  for  a  payment  due  to  the  workman  aforesaid,  on  the  1 9th 
of  May,  i.  e.  exactly  a  week  after  Haro  and  Mazarin  inaugurated, 
by  their  presence  for  the  second  time,  the  Island-Pavilion. 
Velazquez  would  then  himself  have  been  on  the  banks  of  the 
Bidassoa,  but  could  hardly  have  been  there  more  than  a  fort- 
night before  those  Plenipotentiaries  appeared  on  the  scene.  We 
learn  from  Castillo  that  there  had  been  selected  to  go  with 
Velazquez  three  subordinates,  Goetens,  Villareal,  and  his  son-in- 
law  Mazo.  These  officers  held  the  post  of  Ayuda  de  la  Purriera, 
Mazo's  appointment  being  now  of  three  years'  standing.  Unfor- 
tunately the  record  is  silent  as  to  what  would  most  interest  us. 
Wliatever  the  duties  of  the  painter  in  his  capacity  of  Aposentador 
on  this  occasion  may  have  been,  it  is  scarcely  likely  that  they 
comprised  both  the  arranging  for  the  enormous  caravan  that 
followed  him,  and  the  decoration  of  the  Pavilion  on  the  Bidassoa. 
It  has  been  ordinarily  assumed  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
Aposentador  de  Palacio  to  attend  to  the  former  business  in  any 
case ;  but  do  not  the  probabilities  rather  point  on  this  occasion  in 
the  direction  of  those  duties  having  been  discharged  by  other 
officials  1  Castillo  tells  us  that  there  were  a  full  complement  of 
Aposentadores  de  Camino  (Quartermasters  for  Progress)  attached 
to  the  king's  company.  In  the  list,  too,  of  an  earlier  progress, 
four  of  these  officers  are  named ;  although  an  Aposentador  de 
Palacio  then  also  accompanied  the  king.  Possibly  the  Aposentador 
de  Palacio,  whose  name  precedes  those  of  the  secretaries  and 


THE  LAST  JOUR^'EY. 


87 


ecclesiastics  of  the  suite,  when  away  from  the  palace,  had  merely 
minor  duties  to  perform  in  the  way  of  attendance  on  the  king's 
person.  At  Madrid  he  would  be  called  upon  to  see  that 
princes  and  ambassadors  were  suitably  lodged  ;  at  the  same  time 
that  he  exercised  a  general  superintendence  over  the  fittings  and 
internal  arrangements  of  the  royal  palace.  It  would  seem,  on 
the  whole,  probable  that  the  Pavilion  having  been  already  pre- 
viously constructed,^  in  accordance  with  designs  sent  forward 
at  an  earlier  date,  Velazquez  went  in  his  official  capacity  to 
superintend  the  final  arrangement  of  the  hangings  and  decora- 
tions ;  and  that  after  the  conclusion  of  the  State  ceremonial, 
leaving  to  his  subordinates  the  task  of  removing  the  tapestries, 
&c.,  he  joined  the  king's  suite  at  Fuentarabia,  and  went  home 
with  him  by  way  of  Valladolid.^ 

Time  would  fail  us  to  tell  of  the  glories  of  the  king's  State- 
barge,  of  the  splendour  of  the  equipages,  of  the  magnificent 
appearance  of  the  Eoyal  Guards  on  this  side  and  on  that,  what 
time  in  opening  June  the  two  Courts  stood  face  to  face  on  either 
bank  of  the  Bidassoa.  The  chambers  of  the  edifice,  constructed 
with  the  most  elaborate  care,  and  with  the  most  scrupulous 
attention  to  bestowing  exactly  an  equal  share  in  its  transient 
honours  on  the  Lords  of  each  great  nation,  were  in  due  time 
approached  (by  covered  gangway,  or  by  bridges  built  on  boats) 
by  the  Spanish  king,  his  daughter,  and  his  sister,  —  Louis  stealing 
the  first  glimpse  of  his  bride  unseen.  The  next  day's  sun  rose  to 
witness  a  formal  signing  of  the  long-debated  treaty,  and  the  State 
ceremonial  of  a  joint  levee  of  the  united  Courts. 

With  flourish  of  trumpets  and  outburst  of  military  music 

*  It  was  built  for  the  Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees  in  1659.  La  casa  que  en 
dicha  Isla  se  ha  hecho  este  auo  para  los  tratados  de  la  Paz.  '  Viage  del  Re.' 

2  For  the  present,  too,  this  also  must  be  matter  of  conjecture.  Palomino 
requires  confirmation.  Gaxero,  who  started  with  Velazquez,  was  again  at 
Madrid,  his  term  of  service  over,  two  days  before  the  king's  arrival.  '  Doc. 
Ined.'  Iv. 


88 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Philip  bade  adieu  to  the  Isle  of  Pheasants  on  the  7th  of  June, 
entering  his  State-barge,  and  dropping  down  the  river  to  Fuent- 
arabia.  Meanwhile  the  royal  household  of  France,  accompanied 
by  Spanish  outriders,  set  out  upon  the  road  that  led  to  St.  Jean 
de  Luz.  Four-and-twenty  mules  in  rich  housings  toiled  along 
that,  by  them,  hitherto  untrodden  track,  dragging  the  treasure- 
waggons  of  the  newly-married  Infanta.  Haro  and  Mazarin  still 
remained  to  pick  the  last  bones  of  contention. 

Of  the  treasures  that  had  now  gone  away  northwards,  the 
ecclesiastical  world  were  the  first  to  receive  a  share.  A  convent 
at  St.  Jean  de  Luz,  where  the  queen  heard  her  first  mass  in  the 
new  realm  over  which  she  was  now  to  rule,  lightened  her  mules' 
burden  by  becoming  the  recipient  of  a  magnificent  escritoire 
enriched  with  lapis-lazuli  and  precious  stones.^  The  guns  of 
that  city  thundered  salvos,  which  were  heard  as  far  away  as 
Fuentarabia,  and  thence,  ere  he  started  finally  for  the  south,  the 
king  "sent  over"  an  express  to  learn  the  latest  tidings  of  his 
daughter. 

His  face  once  fairly  set  homewards  the  Spanish  monarch  was 
for  travelling  with  what  speed  he  could.  No  longer  having  the 
Princess  to  take  charge  of,  he  could  journey  over  the  stony  and 
rugged  roads  of  the  extreme  northern  portion  of  his  kingdom  on 
horseback,  much  to  the  delight  of  his  subjects  in  those  parts, 
who  thus  saw  more  of  him  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  others.  His 
stay  now,  even  at  such  places  as  Vitoria  and  Burgos,  was  of  the 
briefest,  though  from  no  lack  of  pressing  invitation  on  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants.  At  the  latter  place  his  retinue  was  rendered 
somewhat  less  cumbrous  by  the  Infanta's  household  turning  off 
into  the  original  route.  Hence  he  passed  onward  to  that  ancient 
seat  of  kings,  and  his  own  birthplace — Valladolid.  Here  a  little 
time  might  be  consecrated  to  repose,  and  to  reviving  the  memories 
of  the  past.    The  city  received  him  with  open  arms  and  the 

^  Inside  it  were  gloves  and  leather  goods,  scented  with  ambergris.  {Cor- 
dohanes  de  amhar  (?)  guantes,  y  otras  cosas  curiosas  de  olor.) 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY. 


89 


wildest  manifestations  of  delight.  The  thronged  streets  could 
only  be  compared  to  the  concourse  that  had  witnessed  his 
departure  from  the  capital.  So  soon  as  the  heat  of  the  day  had 
somewhat  moderated,  he  quitted  the  Palace  to  visit  his  pleasure- 
grounds  across  the  waters  of  the  Pisuerga,  and  from  the  far  side 
the  river  was  presently  a  witness  to  the  sport  known  as  "  Despeno 
de  Toros  "  or  "  Bull-harrying."  In  this  form  of  amusement  the 
arena  offered,  or  bid  fair  to  offer,  a  door  of  escape  to  the  half- 
maddened  animals.  To  escape  by  that  door  was  to  rush  out  on  to 
a  platform  from  which  the  only  exit  was  by  leaping  down  into 
the  torrent  below.  There  fresh  methods  of  torture  awaited  the 
luckless  victim,  and  if  the  worried  animal  escaped  alive  to  the 
banks,  horsemen  and  footmen  drove  him  upwards  to  renew  the 
conflict  in  the  Plaza — or  to  be  hurried  out  again  on  to  the  fatal 
platform.  As  night  fell  upon  the  scene,  the  river  lent  itself  to  a 
fresh  pastime.  High  into  air  rose  in  mid  stream  the  tower  of  an 
ancient  castle,  manned  as  it  seemed  with  able  defenders,  and 
furnished  with  ample  ordnance.  Anon  four  galleys  came  to  the 
attack.  Then  broke  forth  such  thundering  of  huge  guns,  such 
blaze  of  bursting  powder,  such  flash  of  cannonading,  that  earth 
reeled  with  the  shock,  and  the  heavens  seemed  alive  with  fiery 
sparks.  At  last  the  triumph  of  the  floating  forces  was  complete. 
Suddenly  the  huge  edifice  sank  into  ashes  amid  one  terrific 
explosion  of  its  artificial  fires. 

A  day  was  then  devoted  to  religion,  and  to  the  claims  of  civic 
authorities.  And  here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  returning  progress, 
favours  and  rewards  were  showered  by  the  king  upon  his  faithful 
lieges,  — benefices,  judgeships,  military  crosses,  or  mitres.  Ere  the 
sun  set,  more  bulls  were  hurried  to  their  death  in  the  huge  Plaza 
Mayor,  where  tasteful  balconies  flittered  in  azure  and  gold ;  and 
there  too  was  enacted,  on  a  singularly  magnificent  scale,  that 
display  of  dexterous  horsemanship,  "juego  de  canas,"  which 
owed  its  origin  to  the  simple  but  not  less  dexterous  pastime  of 
the  Moorish  Jereed. 


90 


VELAZQUEZ. 


The  convent  too  of  St.  Paul,  that  had  witnessed  his  baptism, 
claimed  the  honours  of  a  visit,  and  masquerade  and  comedy, 
fireworks  and  illuminations,  another  bull  fight  and  a  "Mogiganga" 
(a  carnivalesque  entertainment  in  which  the  fun  turned  on  the 
extravagance  of  the  costumes  and  the  smartness  of  the  repartees 
of  the  performers),  were  crowded  into  the  narrow  compass  of  the 
two  further  days  that  the  Court  yet  halted. 

From  such  festivities  they  turned  away  at  last,  and  travelled 
onwards  till  at  length  the  massive  pile  of  the  Escorial  came  once 
more  in  view.  Beyond  lay  the  Casa  del  Campo,  and  there  at 
last  the  king  embraced  his  wife  and  daughter,  and  hurried 
onward  to  the  Atocha  Image.  The  city  started  up  en  masse  to 
greet  the  returning  wanderers,  and  high  to  heaven  rose  the  strain 
of  the  exultant  Te  Deum. 

The  account  of  the  concluding  moments  of  our  painter's  life 
we  borrow  from  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell. ^ 

"  On  the  31st  July,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  having 
been  in  attendance  from  early  morning  on  his  Majesty,  he  felt 
feverish  and  unwell ;  and  retiring  to  his  apartments  in  the  palace, 
laid  himself  on  the  bed  from  whence  he  was  to  rise  no  more. 
The  symptoms  of  his  malady,  spasmodic  affections  in  the  stomach 
and  the  region  of  the  heart,  accompanied  by  raging  thirst,  so 
alarmed  his  physician  Vicencio  Moles,  that  he  called  in  the  Court 
doctors,  Alva  and  Chavarri.  These  learned  persons  discovered 
the  name  of  the  disease,  which  they  called  a  syncopal  tertian 
fever ;  but  they  were  less  successful  in  devising  a  remedy.  No 
improvement  appearing  in  the  state  of  their  patient,  the  King 
sent  to  his  bedside,  as  spiritual  adviser,  Don  Alfonso  Perez  do 
Guzman,  Patriarch  of  the  Indies,  who,  but  a  few  weeks  before, 
had  shared  with  the  dying  artist  in  the  pomps  of  the  Isle  of 

^  The  passage  is  apparently  based  on  Palomino's  account.  As  regards 
the  particulars  given  about  the  executorship  we  now  know  from  other 
sources  that  the  duties  of  an  executor  were  certainly  performed  by  Del 
Mazo— who  is  furthermore  spoken  of  as  a  "  testamentario  "  or  executor. 


THE  LAUGHING  IDIOT.     BY  VELAZQUEZ. 
In  the  Belvedere,  Vienna, 


HIS  BURIAL. 


91 


Pheasants.  Velasquez  now  saw  that  his  end  was  come.  He 
signed  his  will,  and  appointed  as  his  sole  executors,  his  wife 
Dona  Juana  Pacheco  and  his  friend  Don  Gaspar  de  Fuensalida, 
keeper  of  the  Eoyal  records,  and  having  received  the  last 
sacraments  of  the  Church,  he  breathed  his  last  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  on  Friday  6th  of  August,  1660,  in  the  61st  year' 
of  his  age. 

"  The  corpse,  habited  in  the  full  dress  of  a  knight  of  Santiago, 
lay  for  two  days  in  state,  in  a  chamber  illuminated  with  tapers, 
and  furnished  with  a  crucifix  and  altar.  On  Sunday  the  8th  it 
was  put  into  a  coffin  covered  with  black  velvet,  and  garnished 
with  gilt  ornaments,  the  knightly  cross,  and  the  keys  of 
chamberlain  and  Aposentador-Mayor ;  and  at  night  carried 
with  great  pomp  to  the  parish  Church  of  San  Juan.  There  it 
was  placed  in  the  principal  chapel,  in  a  temporary  monument  lit 
by  twelve  silver  candelabra  blazing  with  waxen  tapers ;  and  the 
burial  service  was  sung  by  the  royal  choristers,  in  the  presence 
of  a  great  concourse  of  knights  and  nobles.  The  coffin  was 
finally  lowered  into  the  vault  beneath  the  family  chapel  of  the 
Puensalidas.  If  a  monument  was  ever  erected  to  Velasquez,  it 
was  destroyed  by  the  French,  who  in  1811  pulled  down  the 
Church  of  San  Juan,  a  paltry  edifice,  but  deserving  of  respect 
for  the  sake  of  the  ashes  in  its  keeping.  A  bas-relief,  in  which 
he  is  represented  as  receiving  his  Order  from  the  hands  of  Philip 
IV.,  has  lately^  been  inserted  in  the  pedestal  of  this  monarch's 
equestrian  statue  in  front  of  the  palace.  This  is  the  sole  public 
tribute  which  Madrid  has  yet  ]3aid  to  its  peculiar  artist,  the 
prince  of  Spanish  painters.  His  epitaph  written  ...  by  his 
disciple,  Juan  de  Alfaro,  has  been  preserved  by  Palomino.  ^ 
.  .  .  .  Juana  Pacheco  died  on  the  14th  of  August,  eight  days 
after  her  husband,  and  was  buried  in  the  same  grave." 

Since  the  talented  author  of  the  'Annals  of  the  Artists  of 

1  The  *  Annals  '  were  published  in  1848. 

2  See  Appendix,  Note  D. 


92 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Spain '  penned  the  above  graphic  account  of  the  closing  scene  of 
the  artist's  life,  the  researches  of  Don  Zarco  del  Valle  in  the 
archives  at  Madrid  have  permitted  us  to  accompany  his  son-in- 
law  and  executor  in  the  melancholy  task  of  winding  up  the 
affairs  of  the  painter's  worldly  estate.    With  him  and  with  his 
co-executor  the  king's  greffier  Gaspar  de  Fuensalida,  we  may  pass 
down  the  corridors  of  the  palace  on  a  morning  later  on  in  the 
self-same  month,  and  break  open  the  seals  which,  in  accordance 
with  Spanish  custom,  had  been  promptly  set  upon  the  entrance 
to  the  apartments  of  the  deceased  as  soon  as  the  vital  spark  had 
fled.    We  enter  the  silent  chamber.    The  pen  that  will  never 
more  be  grasped  by  that  careful  and  laborious  hand  lies  dry 
beside  the  paper  on  which  it  was  last  employed.    Everything  is 
neat  and  orderly.    Upon  the  writing-table  are  piled  a  heap  of 
business  documents,  chiefly  relating  to  accounts,  and  to  the 
expenses  incurred  on  the  outward  and  homeward  journey  so 
lately  undertaken.    In  them  the  executors  and  his  Majesty's 
treasury  have  a  joint  interest.    They  must  be  examined  more  at 
leisure  hereafter.    For  the  moment  it  is  enough  to  know  that 
no  unauthorised  person  can  interfere  with  them.    An  inventory 
must  now  be  made  of  other  property  about  the  room.    Some  of 
it  is  the  monarch's,  some  belongs  to  the  painter.    Shall  the  list 
contain  the  articles,  the  usufruct  of  which  will  pass  to  the  next 
tenant  of  the  rooms,  or  those  which  were  Velazquez's  own  1  It 
does  not  matter.    If  a  list  of  the  royal  property  be  dra-vvn  up, 
all  not  so  inventoried  can  then  be  dealt  with  as  del  Mazo  shall 
please.    How  gladly  would  posterity  have  hailed  a  different 
choice  !    Still  there  is  a  genuine  interest  in  looking  upon  the 
still  life  that,  if  only  in  tables  and  chairs,  formed  the  daily  sur- 
roundings of  the  artist  of  days  so  long  since  fled.    As  we  glance 
down  the  columns  of  the  Catalogue  our  attention  is  involuntarily 
arrested  by  items  such  as  these  : — 

A  Statue  of  Philip  XL 
A  Portrait  of  Louis  XIV. 


HIS  EFFECTS. 


93 


A  Portrait  of  the  Senora  Infanta  Reyna  de  Ungria- 
A  Model  in  Bronze  of  the  Senor  Don  Juan  de  Austria. 

In  the  little  chamber  by  the  Tower — 

A  Model  of  a  Church  in  Wood. 
Portrait  by  El  Greco — Head  of  a  Cleric. 
A  Do.  — Head  of  a  Woman. 

A  St.  Veronica  on  a  Handkerchief. 

In  the  chamber  used  as  a  library  by  the  former  king — 

A  number  of  "  Tablas." 
After  which  follows  perhaps  the  most  natural  touch  of  all — 

A  bunch  of  keys,  and  no  one  knows  to  what  they  belong. 


It  was  not  till  five  or  six  years  later  that  del  Mazo  was  able 
to  close  the  accounts  relating  to  the  estate  of  the  deceased.  Be- 
fore that  time  had  arrived,  the  Royal  patron,  from  whose  grate- 
ful hand  both  father-in-law  and  son-in-law  had  received  such 
numerous  and  such  constant  favours,  had  been  gathered  to  his 
fathers,  and  laid  in  the  gloom  of  his  stately  Pantheon ;  and  it 
was  at  the  hands  of  the  State  Secretary  to  his  sole  surviving 
son,  Carlos  II.,  that  the  executor  at  last  received  the  final 
quittance  from  the  Crown  of  Spain. 


APPENDIX. 


Note  A. 
Pacheco. 

This  name — in  the  same  way  that  the  names  of  Sancho  and  Sanchez,  with 
their  Italian  collateral  forms  Sanctis  and  Santia,  are  referred  to  the  Eastern 
root  of  Sanchoniatho — is  by  origin  Phoenician.  We  learn  from  Herodotus 
that  the  Cabiri  deities  of  the  Phoenicians  were  termed  TTaraiKoi,  an  evident 
corruption  of  the  Hebrew  Pithuach,  Pithucim,  "  Sculptors,  Sculpture." 
The  carved  figure-heads  of  the  Tyrian  ships  were  called  pataicoi. 

One  of  the  first  settlements  made  by  the  Phoenicians  in  Andalucia 
(Tarshish  ?)  was  near  Gibraltar,  at  Carteia,  a  towTi  so  called  by  them  from 
the  Patron  of  Tyre,  Hercules  Melech  Garth,  ''The  King  of  the  City." 
Plutarch  informs  us  that  Grassus  when  forced  to  fly  from  Italy  was  con- 
cealed at  Ximena,  near  Carteia,  for  eight  months  in  certain  caves  which 
belonged  to  a  generous  native  named  Paciecus,  who  had  been  placed  by 
Cfesar  in  command  as  a  man  of  local  knowledge  and  influence  ( '  Bell.  Hisp. 
1.3). 

These  identical  caves  were  found  by  Conduit  when  he  investigated  the 
site  and  neighbourhood  of  Carteia  to  be  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Pacheco 
family.  The  title  (Vulgo  Angl.  equivalent  to  "You  Image,  you  ! ")  was 
doubtless  either  assumed  by,  or  given  to,  some  Phoenician  captain  from 
the  sign  of  his  ship  when  he  settled  in  the  new  colony.  (See  '  Quarterly 
Review,'  cxxiii.  p.  100.)  We  read  also  in  Don  Juan  de  Jauregui's  paper  in 
Carducho's  work,  p.  440,  as  follows  : — "El  nombre  Pinturas  se  halla  en  los 


APPENDIX. 


95 


adornos  del  Taberiiaculo  (Exod.  xxxix.  6)  danda  la  palabra  Pituhim  dice 
Genebrardo  sobre  el  Psalm  Ixxiil.  '  que  etiam  Piduras  designat.'  La  voz 
Januas  que  en  Hebreo  suena  PiTUHiAH  interpretan  Beda  y  Genebrardo  asi 
— '  Januas  vel  Picturas  ejus  simul  in  securi  et  malleis  conquassant.'  " 

Note  B. 

portrait  of  prince  charles  i.  of  england  by  velazquez. 

Mr.  John  Snare  of  Reading  exhibited  a  work,  in  1847,  which  he 
maintained  was  the  original  referred  to  by  Pacheco,  as  having  been  executed 
by  Velazquez  during  the  stay  of  Prince  Charles  at  Madrid.  Mr.  Snare 
advanced  the  grounds  he  had  for  this  belief  in  a  pamphlet,  which  he  pub- 
lished at  Reading  in  that  year,  under  the  following  title  :  *  History  and 
Pedigree  of  the  Portrait  of  Prince  Charles,  afterwards  Charles  I.,  painted 
by  Velasquez  in  1623.'  In  spite  of  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Snare,  Sir 
Edmund  Head  denied  the  authenticity  of  the  picture,  maintaining,  that  it 
was  neither  a  work  of  Velazquez,  nor  an  unfinished  work,  nor  a  repre- 
sentation of  Charles  at  any  such  early  age.  The  opposition  to  the  claims 
of  his  picture  induced  Mr.  Snare  to  reproduce  his  arguments  with  additions 
in  a  fresh  pamphlet  which  was  published  a  year  later,  under  the  title  of 
*  Proofs  of  Authenticity  of  the  Portrait  of  Prince  Charles,  painted  at  Madrid 
in  1623  by  Velasquez.  Reading,  8vo.,  1848.'  Mr.  Snare  had  believed 
it  to  be  the  identical  Avork  catalogued  as  in  the  Earl  of  Fife's  collection, 
prior  to  1798,  and  in  that  catalogue  stated  to  have  "belonged  to  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham."  He  was  also  prepared  to  prove,  that  for  40  years  previous 
to  that  date  the  Earl  had  been  adding  portraits  to  his  collection.  But  not 
only  was  the  authority  of  Sir  Edmund  Head  utterly  opposed  to  Mr.  Snare's 
views,  but  such  names  as  those  of  Stirling-Maxwell  and  Ford  were  also 
arrayed  against  him.  The  former  of  these  authors,  Stirling-Maxwell  that 
is,  after  recapitulating  Sir  Edmund  Head's  arguments,  annihilated  any 
lingering  hopes  by  the  very  pertinent  remark,  that  even  if  the  picture 
were  tlie  actual  one  mentioned  in  the  printed  catalogue,  that  went  no 
farther  than  proving  that  Lord  Fife  had  held  a  certain  opinion  about  it. 
Mr.  Snare  refers  to  a  print  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford,  as  justify- 
ing his  views,  but  a  reference  to  those  there  preserved  seems  equally  fatal 
to  any  such  claims.  There  may  be  seen  in  that  collection  a  print  by  Mytens, 
engraved  by  Delft,  representing  Prince  Charles  about  the  time  of  his  ac- 
cession, but  it  is  a  print  that  presents  no  features  in  common  with  another 
one  there  preserved,  clearly  of  later  date,  and  in  which  some  resemblance 
may  be  traced  to  the  portrait  possessed  by  Mr.  Snare. 


96 


VELAZQUEZ. 


Note  C. 

The  title-page  of  the  pamphlet  discovered  by  Don  A.  de  Castro  is  as 
follows  : — 

Memoria  de  las  Pinturas  que  la  Majestad  Catholica  del  Rey  nuestro  Senor 
Don  Phelipe  IV.  embia  al  Monasterio  de  san  Laurencio  el  Real  del  Escorial, 
este  ano  de  mdclvi  descriptas  y  colocadas  por  Diego  de  Sylva  Velasquez, 
Cavallero  del  orden  de  Santiago,  Ayuda  de  Camara  de  su  Magestad,  Aposen- 
tador  Mayor  de  su  Imperial  Palacio,  Ayuda  de  la  Guarda  ropa,  Ugier  de 
Camara,  Superintendente  Extraordinario  de  las  Obras  Reales,  y  Pintor  de 
Camara,  Apeles  deste  Siglo,  la  ofrece  dedica  y  consagra  a  la  posteridad 
D.  Ivan  de  Alfaro.  Impresa  en  Roma  en  la  Oficina  de  Ludovico  Grimani 
ano  de  mdclviii. 

Note  D. 

ALFARO'S  epitaph  ON  VELAZQUEZ,  AS  GIVEN  BY  PALOMINO. 

Posteritati  Sacratum — D.  Didacus  Velazquius  de  Silva  Hispalensis  pictor 
eximius  natus  anno  MDLXXXXIV  Picturse  nobilissimse  arti  sese  dicavit 
(prJBceptore  accuratissimo  Francisco  Pocieco  qui  de  pictura  pereleganter 
scripsit)  Jacet  hie  :  proh  dolor  !  D.  D.  Philippi  IV  Hispaniarum  Regis 
Augustissimi  a  cubiculo  Pictor  primus,  a  camara  excelsa  adjutor  vigilantis- 
simus,  in  Regio  Palatio  et  extra  ad  hospitium  cubicularius  maximus,  a  quo 
studiorum  ergo  missus,  ut  Romse  et  aliarum  Italise  urbium  Picturse  tabulas 
admirandas,  vel  quid  aliud  hujus  suppelectilis,  veluti  statuas  marmoreas, 
fereas  conquireret,  perscrutaret,  ac  secum  adduceret,  nummis  largiter  sibi 
traditis :  sicque  cum  ipse  pro  tunc  etiam  Innocentii  X  Pont.  Max.  faciem 
coloribus  mire  expresserit,  aurea  catena  pretii  supra  ordinarii  eum  remu- 
neratus  est,numismate,  gemmis,C8elato  cum  ipsius  Pontificis  effigie  insculpta, 
ex  ipsa  ex  annulo,  appenso  :  tandem  D.  Jacobi  stemmate  fuit  condecoratus 
et  post  redditum  ex  fonte  rapido  Gallise  confini  Urbe  Matritum  versus  cum 
rege  suo  Potentissimo  e  nuptiis  serenissimse  D.  Marise  Theresise  Bibianse  de 
Austria  et  Borbon,  e  connubio  scilicet  cum  Rege  Galliarum  Christianissimo 
D.D. Ludovico  XIV  labore  itineris  febri  prsehensus,  obiit  Mantuse  Carpetanae, 
postridie  nonas  Augusti,  setatis  LXVI  anno  MDCLX  sepultusque  est  honori- 
fice  in  D.  Joannis  Parrochiali  Ecclesia,  nocte  septimo  Idus  mensis,  sumptu 
maximo  immodicisque  expensis,  sed  non  immodicis  tanto  viro.  Haeroum 
concomitatu,  in  hoc  Domini  Gasparis  Fuensalida  Grafierii  Regii  amicissimi 
subterraneo  sarcophago  :  suoque  magistro  prfeclaroque  viro  sseculis  omnibus 
venerando,  Pictura  collacrimante,  hoc  breve  epicedium  Joannes  de  Alfaro 
Cordubensis  msestus  posuit  et  Henricus  frater  Medicus. 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


AUSTEIA. 

Vienna.  A  Laughing  Idiot.  {He  holds  a  flov^er  in  his  hand.) 

Belvedere.  The  Family  of  Velazquez.  {Contains  twelve  ^portraits, 
two-thirds  of  life  size.)  Engraved  very  small  hy  J. 
Kovatsch. 

^  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.      {Three-quarter  length:  in 

plain  hlack,  a  paper  in  his  right  hand,  his  left  on 

the  pommel  of  his  sword.) 
>  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Baltazar  Carlos.  {Standing 

with  his  right  hand  on  the  hack  of  an  arm-chair. ) 
Portrait  of  an  Infanta  of  Spain.  {Quite  young,  in  pinh^ 

near  a  table  loith  a  glass  of  flowers.) 
^  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Philip  Prospero,  a  son  of 

Philip  IV.,  who  died  in  Infancy.    {Catalogued  as  a 

Princess.)   Standing  near  an  arm-chair  on  which  is 

a  spaniel. 

Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Maria  Margarita,  daughter  of 
Philip  IV.  {Catalogued  as  the  Infanta  Maria 
Theresia. ) 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  (bust). 
^  H 


98 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


BELGIUM. 

Brussels.  Mus.  Portrait  of  two  young  Girls :  m  white  dresses  with 
red  ribbons,  holding  each  other's  hands  on  a  stone 
stair-case.  Life-size. 

ENGLAND. 

Alnwick.  D.  of  |  p^^^^.^.^     p^^^.^  Alcantara. 
Northumberland.  ' 

Althokp.  I  Head  of  a  Girl. 

Earl  S2^encer.  J 

BowooD.  Portrait  of  Olivarez,  a  bust.    {From  the  collection  of 

M.  of  Lansdowne.    Don  Manuel  Godoy :  Prince  of  Peace. ) 

Portrait  of  Pope  Innocent  X.  (?)    {A  Eeplica  (?)  of  the 

Palazzo  Doria  Portrait. ) 
A  Child  in  Bed. 
{Perhaps  Don  Prospero  {eldest  son  of  Queen  Mariana)^ 
who  died  1661,  aged  4.] 
Portrait  of  Velazquez  (bust). 

Landscape  with  Two  Mounted  Cavaliers  and  other  Figures 
seated  ;  the  Sea  in  the  Background.  {Brought  into 
England  from  Madrid  by  Mr.  Bourke,  the  Danish 
Minister.) 

Landscape  with  Cavaliers,  Ladies,  and  Dwarfs,  a  Sierra 
in  the  Background.     {Both  brought  into  England 
from  Madrid  by  Mr.  Bourke,  the  Danish  Minister.) 
DuLWiCH.  Gal.   Portrait  of  Philip  IV.    {In  scarlet  and  silver:  three- 
quarters  length :  holds  a  staff  of  ivory  and  gold  in 
his  right  hand.    A  chef-d'oeuvre. ) 
Hampton  Court.  Philip  IV.    {Waagen  suggests  that  this  and  the  Com- 
panion work  are  by  Rubens.) 
Queen  of  Philip  IV.  {Sister  of  Henrietta  Maria.) 
Heytesbury.       Les  Borrachos,  a  sketch  for  the  Madrid  picture.  [Con- 
Lord  Heytesbury.     tains  only  six  figures — the  Madrid  subject  has  nine.) 
Kingston  Lacy.  Las  Meninas.    {A  sketch  for  the  Madrid  Picture.) 

Banks  Coll.  Portrait  of  Cardinal  Caspar  de  Borja,  Archbishop  of  Seville 
and  Toledo. 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  standing.  Painted  for  the  First 
Marqu  is  of  Leganes.  {From  the  A  Itamira  Collection. ) 


IN  ENGLAND. 


99 


Leigh  Court.     The  Virgin  in  Ecstacy.    {Dotihted  hy  Waagen.)  Etched 
Miles  Coll.       by  John  Young,  1823. 

Philip  IV.  on  Horseback,    {Etched  hy  John  Young.) 
London.  Philip  IV.  hunting  the  Wild  Boar.    {From  the  Palace 

National  Gal.  of  Ferdinand  VIL  Bought  for  i.'2200.  A  sketch 
belongs  to  Sir  E.  Wallace :  the  Companion  picture  to 
Lord  Ashburton.) 
The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds.  {Figures  life-size: 
in  his  early  style.)  Formerly  in  the  Collection  of  the 
Count  of  A  guila.  Bought  from  King  Louis  Philippe  s 
Collection  in  1853  for  £2050.  {Engraved  by  E. 
Lingee,  and  in  'Illustrated  London  News'  of  23rc? 
December,  1854.) 
Orlando  Dead.  {Atti'ibuted  to  Velazquez.  Formerly 
in  a  Palace  of  the  King  of  Spain.  No.  '20^  of  the 
Pourtales  Collection:  bought  for  £1500.  Etchedj 
hy  Flameng  in  the  'Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,'  1864.) 
{An  old  'copy  was  at  Brussels  at  M.  Cremer's.) 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {In  a  black  dress  relieved  with 
gold  ornaments.  Formerly  in  the  Demidoff  Collec- 
tion. ) 

Apsley  House.    The  Aguador  of  Seville.    {The  gift  of  King  Ferdinand 
VII.  of  Spain.  Engraved  by  Amettler  aiid  by  Lingee. 

Portrait  of  Pope  Innocent  X.  {A  chef-d'oeuvre.)  A 
Replica  (?)  of  the  picture  in  the  Palazzo  Doria. 

Portrait  of  Velazquez  (?). 

Two  Small  Boys. 

View  of  a  Fair,  with  Gypsies. 

View  of  a  Fortified  Town,  with  Figures. 

Portrait  of  the  Poet  Francisco  de  Quevedo.  {From  the 
collection  De  Bruna  of  Seville.  Engraved  hy 
Carmona,  and  hy  Brandi. ) 

Portrait  of  a  Cardinal. 
Bath  House.    A  Large  Landscape.    {From   the  Alcazar  Collection. 

Distinguished  hy  a  Tabladillo.  Madrazo.)  {The 
companion  to  the  National  Gallery  Boar  Hunt.) 
Philip  IV.,  Olivarez,  and  others  are  killing  deer, 
eight  ladies  and  three  duennas  looking  on.  In  the 
foreground  are  horses,  coaches,  lohips,  keepers, 
loungers,  and  in  the  background  are  cypress  trees. 

Portrait  {bust)  of  Philip  IV. 

H  2 


100 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Landscapes  witli  Figures  {two). 
Bridgwater  Ho.  Portrait  of  a  Natural  Son  of  Duke  d'Olivarez.  {From 
the  Altamira  Collection.) 
Portrait  of  Pliilip  IV.    {Small  full-length.) 
Portrait  of  Velazquez,    {Like  the  Florence  Portrait 
Waagen.    Etched  by  J.  Young.) 
Grosvenor  House.  Don  Baltazar  Carlos,  the  Prince  of  Asturias,  on.  horse- 
back, and  with  his  staff.  {F7'om  the  Agar  Collection.) 
Etched  by  J.  Young. 
Philip  IV.  in  his  Youth  on  an  Andalusian  Horse, 
Hertford  House.   A  Lady  with  a  Fan.  {Bought  in  1843  from  the  Aguado 
Collection  for  500  guineas. )    Engraved  by  Pistrucci 
in  Lucien  Bonaparte's  Collection.,  1812,  and  by  Leroux 
in  the  Aguado  Gallery,  1839. 
The  Infante  Don  Baltazar  Carlos  on  horseback.  {From 

the  Rogers  Collection.) 
The  Infante  Don  Baltazar  Carlos,  at  three  years  old,  with 
a  baton.    {He  ap2')ears  in  a  grey  dress  and  violet 
scarf  with  a  sword  attached.    {From  the  Standish 
Collection. ) 
Portrait  of  Don  Baltazar  Carlos. 

Portrait  of  an  Infanta  of  Spain.    Full-length,  life-size. 
A  standing  figure,  in  a  black  dress  with  ivhite  sleeves. 
{From  the  Higginson  Collection.) 
Landscape  with  a  Boar  Hunt.     {A   sketch  for  the 
National  Gallery  Picture.    Bought  at  Lord  North- 
v)ick's  sale  for  300  guineas.) 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV. 
Portrait  of  the  Duke  of  Olivarez. 
Holjord  House.    Field-Marshal  in  Armour.    Fidl-length.     {From  the 

Baring  Collection.) 
Stafford  House.    The  Duke  of  Gandia  (?)  at  a  Convent  Door.  {Formerly 
in  the  Soidt  Collection.) 
St.  Charles  Borromeo  at  a  Chapter.    A  knight  kneeling 
before  a  priest,  with  three  knights  and  ttco  pages. 
{Doubted  by  Waagen.) 
A  Eocky  Landscape,  with  a  man  on  a  white  horse  and  a 

woman  with  two  beggars  lying  down. 
St.  Francis  Borgia  arriving  at  the  Jesuits'  College. 
Longford  Portrait  of  Don  Adrian  Pulido  Vqxq]^,  life-size.  {The 

Castle.      dress  of  black  velvet  with  sleeves  of  a  flowered  white 


IN  FRANCE. 


101 


Lord  Radnor.      satin,  and  a  lohite  lace  collar.  Signed  "  Di°  Velasq^ 
Philip  IV  a  cubiculo  eiiisc^.  pictor  1639.")  {A  Replica 
of  the  Wohurn  Abbey  Portrait.) 
Portrait  of  Velazquez.  ( ?) 

Portrait  of  Juan  de  Pareja  {bust).    Life-size.  {Doubted 
by  Waagen.) 

WoBURN  Abbey.    (  Portrait  of  Don  Adrian  Pulido  Pareja.    1660  (?). 
D.  of  Bedford.    \  Portrait  of  a  Man. 


FEANCE. 

Paris.  Louvre.  Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Maria  Margarita,  daughter  of 
Philip  IV.  {Engraved  '  Gal.  Hist,  de  Versailles,' 
No.  2371.  Etched  by  Mllius  in  the  '  Gazette  des 
Beaux  Arts,'  vol.  xix.) 
Portrait  of  Don  Pedro  Moscoso  de  Altamira,  1633. 
[From  the  Guardia  Real  Collection.  Bought  in  1849 
/or  £180.) 

A  Group  of  Portraits,  including  Velazquez  and  Murillo, 
known  as  the  ''R^unio7i  d' Artistes.'"  {From  the  Forbln 
Janson  Collection.    Bought  in  1851  for  £2Q0. 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.,  in  Hunting  Costume,  with  a 
Dog.      (Purchased  from  M.  Milndler  for  £920. ) 
{Perhaps  by  del  Mazo  Martinez.)    Etched  by  Haus- 
soullier  in  the  '  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts. ' 
{The  following  are  in  the  La  Caze  Collection.) 

Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Maria  Tei  esa,  daughter  of  Philip  IV. 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.    {A  head.) 

Portrait  of  a  Girl.    {In  a  dress  of  black  and  white.) 


GEEMANY. 

Berlin.  Museum.  Portrait  of  Allesandro  del  Borro. 

Portrait  of  Mariana,  sister  of  Philip  IV.  {from  the  Suer- 
mondt  Collection,  where  it  was  known  as  Isabella  of 
Bourbon. ) 

Dresden.  Mus.  A  Portrait  of  the  Count  Duke  of  Olivarez.  In  black, 
with  the  green  cross  of  the  order  of  Alcantai'a.  {A 
copy  bought  at  Modena  in  1745.)  (?) 


102 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Dresden.  Mus.   Portrait  of  a  Man  in  Black  with  a  Gold  Badge  {bust). 

{Bought  at  Modena  as  a,  Riibens  from  the  Gallery 
of  Duke  Frangois  UEste,  in  1745  :  perhaps  a 
Van  Dyck.)  (?) 

Portrait  of  a  Man  in  Black.  Half-length.  {Bought  at 
Modena  as  a  Ruhens,  re-christened  a  Titian,  hut  now 
given  to  Velazquez.) 

Personages  of  the  Court  of  Philip  IV.,  in  mythological 
costumes,  with  Mariana  of  Austria  as  Diana.  {Ac- 
quired m  1881.) 

Frankfort.        Portrait  of  Cardinal  Borgia.  {Etched  by  J.  Eissenhai'dt. ) 

Stddel.    Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Margarita  Teresa. 
Munich.  Portrait  of  (?)  Velazquez. 

Pinacotheky^  Bust  of  a  Young  Spaniard  in  a  black  dress. 

Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Maria  Teresa.  {Replica  of  the 
Madj'id  Gallery  picture. ) 


HOLLAISTD. 

Amsterdam.  71/ MS.  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.  {A 
copy  (?)  bought  in  1828  for  31  florins.) 

Hague.  Mus.     Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.  {En- 
graved hy  Lange,  and  lithographed  hy  Arnaud 
Gerkens  in  the  '  Kunstkronijk, '  1847.) 
A  Spanish  Landscape. 

ITALY. 

^  Florence.  Pitti  Portrait  of  an  old  Man.  Half-length. 

^  Palace.  Portrait  of  an  old  Man.  Full-length. 
^  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain. 

^  Portrait  of  Velazquez.  Engraved  hy  Lasinio,  Figlio, 
also  hy  Francesco  Cecchini,  and  in  O'NeiVs  '  Dic- 
tionary of  Spanish  Painters.' 
"  Uffizi.  A  Portrait  of  Velazquez  {with  a  skull-cap.  Engraved 
by  Denon,  1790)  (?). 
^  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {Equestrian,  life-size;  perhaps 
the  model  for  Tacca's  Statue.  Engraved  by  Mogalli 
and  by  Errani.  Dr.  von  Zahn  thinks  that  this  is 
"  more  probably  the  work  of  some  scholar  of  Rubens.'") 

^  A  Bacchanalian  Scene. 


I 

IN  RUSSIA. 


103 


Genoa  Patea    )  ^  Madonna  and  Child. 

Cataneo.  ) 
Milan.       Gal.    A  Monk.  Life-size. 

Rome.  Portrait  of  Pope  Innocent  X.    {Painted  on  the  second 

Palazzo  Doria.     in  Italy,  1649-1651.    A  chef-d'oeuvre. 
Turin.  Museum.  Portrait  of  Philip  IV,  {bust). 


EUSSIA. 

St.  Petersburg.  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.     {From  the  King  of  Holland's 
Hermitage.       sale,  1845.) 

Portrait  of  the  Count  Diilce  of  Olivarez.  {From  the  King 

of  Holland^ s  sale.     This  and  the  Portrait  of  Philip 

IV.  cost  38,850  florins.)     A  Replica  in  London 

belongs  to  Col.  Hugh  Baillie. 
A  Head  of  Pope  Innocent  X.    [Perhaps  the  original 

study  for  the  Doria  Portrait.)     Engraved  by  J. 

Fittler,  1820,  and  in  aquatint  by  V.  Green. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  (bust).    {F?-om  the  Coesveldt 

Gallery. ) 

Portrait  of  Count  Duke  Olivarez  {bust).  {From  the  Coes- 
veldt Gallery.) 

A  Peasant  Laughing  {in  profile)  (?).  {From  the  Coes- 
veldt Gallery. 

Leuchtenburg  Col.  Portrait  of  a  Man  in  black.  {Engraved  by  M.  Muxel.) 


SPAIK 

Madrid.  Ch.T!ht  on  i\\QQms,s  {very  large  and  powerful).  {Painted 

Museum.       in  1638  for  the  Convent  of  San  Pldcido.)  Engraved 
by  Carmona,  and  also  by  Ballester. 
The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  {smacks  of  El  Greco). 
Engraved  by  Massart,  and  in  Beveil  and  Duchesne's 
*  Musee  de  Peinture,'  vol.  XIV. 
The  God  Mars  {seated  wearing  a  helmet,  and  with  armour 

at  his  feet).    Engraved  by  Le  Villain. 
Portrait  of  a  Young  Girl  {with  chestnut  hair,  and  with 

red  ribands  and  flowers  in  her  hands). 
Portrait  {bust)  of  Philip  IV.  [youthful :  in  steel  armour 
and  crimson  scarf). 


104 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Madiud.    Mm.   Portrait  of  a  Young  Girl  {has  flowers  in  her  lap).  No. 
1087. 

Portrait  of  a  Sculptor  [Alonso  Cam)  (?). 

St.  Anthony  Abbot,  and  St.  Paul  Hermit.  {A  raven 
brings  bread  :  two  lions  dig  a  grave  :  a  wide  land- 
scape. )  Engraved  in  Le  Bru7i's  '  Recueil  de 
Gravures,'  1809. 

The  Entrance  of  the  Gardens  of  the  Villa  Medici. 
{Painted  hj  Velazquez  when  residing  there.) 

The  Entrance  of  the  Gardens  of  the  Villa  Medici. 
Companion  picture  {both  admirable). 

Portrait  {unknown)  of  an  Actor  {dark  but  telliTig). 
(?)  No.  1092.  Etched  by  Henry  Guerard  in  the 
'Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,'  vol.  xxii. 

Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Carlos  (born  1607,  died 
1632).  Life-size,  in  black,  with  a  gold  chain;  in 
his  left  hand  a  hat,  in  his  right  a  glove.  A  chef- 
d'oeuvre. 

Portrait  of  Queen  Mariana  of  Austria.  {Life-size,  in 
black,  standing  with  her  right  hand  on  a  chair ; 
in  her  left  a  handkerchief ;  at  the  back  a  table 
with  a  watch  on  it.  Very  fine  and  delicately 
handled.) 

Portrait  of  Queen  Mariana  of  Austria.  {A  Replica  of 
the  last.) 

A  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.  {Life- 
size,  in  black  :  holds  h  is  hat  in  his  gloved  right  hand  ; 
his  left  rests  on  a  chair  near  a  crimson  curtain. 
Worthy  of  Van  Dyck. ) 

Portrait  {unknown)  of  a  Master  of  the  Ordnance.  {In 
black,  withpink  trimmings,  feathers,  Sc.  ;  wears  an 
iron  key.  A  ship  on  fire  founders  at  the  back. 
Very  masterly.)  Engraved  by  Fosseyeux  in  1729  ; 
also  by  E.  Ling^e  ;  there  is  also  a  very  rare  etching 
by  Goya.  Etched  by  Raj  on  in  the  '  Gazette  des  Beaux 
Arts,'  vol.  xxi. 

View  of  the  Arch  of  Titus  from  the  Campo  Vaccino. 

Study  of  an  Old  Man's  Head  {recalls  Reynolds). 

Portrait  called  the  Corsair  Barbarossa.  {In  a  Turkish 
costume:  broadly  painted.)  Engraved  by  L.  Crou- 
telle,  1799.    Etched  by  Goya. 


IN  SPAIN. 


105 


Madrid.   Mus.    Study  of  a  Landscape  with  a  Roman  Temple. 

Study  of  a  Landscape,  with  Ruins.  {The  companion 

picturi:  powerful  in  light  and  shade.) 
Portrait  of  Donna  Maria,  Daughter  of  Philip  IIL,  and 

Queen  of  Hungary.  {An  admirable  portrait.)  Etched 

hy  E.  Saint  Raymond  in  the  '  Gazette  des  Beaux 

Arts,'  vol.  XX. 

Los  Borrachos.  {The  Topers.)  A  chef-d'oeuvi'e.  {A 
sketch  for  this  famous  composition  is  at  Heyteshury. ) 
Engraved  hy  Carmoyia,  Etched  by  Goya,  and  after 
Goya  by  Adlard,  in  '  Annals  of  the  Artists  of  Spain.' 
Etched  by  Al.  Masson  in  the  'Gazette  des  Beaux 
Arts,'  vol.  XX. 

A  Portrait  {unknown). 

A  Portrait  {unknown :  moustache  d  la  Ferdinand). 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {in  mature  years).    {Probably  by 

Pareja  and  not  by  Velazquez.  ] 
View  of  a  Garden  {with  a  Palace  on  the  right). 
View  of  the  Fountain  of  the  Tritons  in  the  Island  Garden 

of  the  Royal  Palace  at  Aranjuez.  {Excellent-) 
Las  Meninas.  ( The  Maids  of  Honour. )  The  chefd^oeuvre 

of  Velazquez.    {A  Replica  or  original  sketch  is  at 

Kingston  Lacy.)  Engraved  by  Audouin,  1799  :  and 

in  the  '  Musee '  of  Reveil  and  Duchesne  ;  there  is  also 

a  vtry  rare  etching  by  Goya. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.    {A  bust,  in  black :  the  King  is 

represented  at  an  advanced  age.) 
The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.    Lithographed  in  Palma- 

roWs  Collection. 
Portrait  {Equestrian)  of  Don  Gaspar  de  Guzman,  Count 

Duke  of  Olivarez,  Prime   Minister  of  Philip  IV. 

{Painted  about  1631.)    A  chef-d'oeuvre.    {A  small 

Replica  is  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Elgin.)  Etched 

by  Goya,  1778.    Lithographed  in  the  '  Coleccion  de 

cuadros. ' 

The  Forge  of  Vulcan.  {Painted  in  Italy,  1629-31.) 
Engraved  hi  Reveil  and  Duchesne' s  '  Musee  de  Pein- 
ture.' 

Portrait  of  Donna  Margarita  Maria  of  Austria,  Daughte 
of  Philip  IV. 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {when  young).     In  shooting 


106 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Madrid.  Mus.  costume,  with  a  dog :  in  his  right  hand  a  fowling- 
piece.  A  Replica  in  the  Louvre.  Lithographed  by 
J.  A.  Lopez,  'Coleccion  de  cuadros,'  No.  LjV. 

Portrait  of  an  Old  Lady.  {Carries  a  hook.  A  three- 
quarter  length.) 

Portrait  of  a  Man  {unknown). 

Portrait  {Equestrian)  of  Philip  III.  An  ideal.  Etched 
by  Goya. 

Portrait  {Equestrian)  of  Donna  Margarita  of  Austria, 

Queen  of  Philip  III.    Companion  picture.  Etched 

by  Goya,  1778. 
Portrait  of  an  Old  Man  {called  Menippus).  Engraved 

by  Esquivel.    Etched  by  Goya,  1778. 
Portrait  of  a  Dwarf.     A  full-length.     {Seated  turning 

over  a  book.)   Etched  by  Goya,  1778.    Engraved  by 

F.  Muntaner,  1792. 
Portrait  of  a  poor  Old  Man  {called  Msop).  Engraved 

by  Esquivel.  Etched  by  Goya :  and  by  La  Guillermie. 
Portrait  of  a  Dwarf  with  Beard,  seated  on  the  ground. 

I7i  red  and  green.    Engraved  by  F.  Ribera,  1798. 

Etched  by  Goya,  1778. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {when  young).    {In  black.  A 

paper  in  the  left  hand ;  the  left  hand  on  a  table.) 
Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.   {School  of 

Velazquez.)  (?) 

Portrait  of  Don  Ferdinand  of  Austria.    {Life-size.  In 

shooting  costume— gun  in  hand;  a  dog  on  the  right.) 

Etched  by  Goija,  1778. 
Portrait  of  a  Dwarf.    His  right  hand  holds  a  hat  with 

lohite  feathers  ;  his  left  grasps  the  collar  of  a  large 

dog. 

Portrait  of  the  Boy  of  Vallecas.  {Etched  by  Goya,  1778. 

Engraved  by  Vazquez,  1792.     See  engraving  in 

Stirling's  '  Annals. ') 
Portrait  of  an  Unknown  Personage.    {In  rich  armour  — 

a  helmet  and  baton  on  the  table.    Engraved  in  Le 

Brun's  '  Recueil.') 
Portrait  of  Bobo  de  Coria.    Engraved  by  Croutelle, 

Madrid,  1797. 
Mercury  and  Argus.    Figures  life-size.  Etched  by  J ose 

Vallejo. 


IN  SPAIN. 


107 


Madrid.  Mus.  Portrait  (^g^^es^na?^)  of  Philip  IV.  {In  splendid  armour, 
with  a  red  scarf  and  a  baton.  Boyal,  both  horse  and 
rider —handling  very  masterly.)  Engraved  by  I.  de 
Courbes  at  Madrid. 

Portrait  of  Donna  Isabella  de  Bourbon,  Queen  of  Philip 
IV.  {Companion  picture,  and  equally  fine.  Etched 
by  Goya,  1778.  Etched  by  Flameng  in  the  'Gazette 
des  Beaux  Arts.' 

Portrait  of  the  Prince  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.  {In  a  court 
dress  laced  with  gold,  a  carbine  in  his  right  hand.) 

The  Surrender  of  Breda  {''Las  Lanzas").  {Painted 
between  1645  and  1648.  [An  admirable  sketch  for 
this  chef-dJoeuvre  belonged  to  M.  Haro  of  Pa?'is.] 
Engraved  in  Reveil  and  Duchesne  s  '  Musee.') 

Portrait  of  a  Lady,  Probably  Donyia  Juana  Pacheco, 
wife  of  Velazquez.    An  admirable  piece. 

Portrait  {Equestrian)  of  the  little  Prince  Don  Balthazar 
Carlos.  In  olive  and  gold  with  a  pink  scarf,  on  a 
bright  bay.  Beplicas  or  copies  of  this  chef-d'oeuvre 
are  owned,  by  the  Duke  of  Westminster,  by  Sir  B. 
Wallace,  and  by  the  Dulwich  Gallery.  Mezzotinted 
by  Earlom,  1774,  and  etched  by  Goya,  1778.  Litho- 
graphed in  the  '  Coleccion  de  cuadros.' 

Las  Hilanderas  {The  Tapestry  Weavers).  Chef-d'oeuvre. 
Bivals  Bembrandfs  '  Night  W atch. '  Engraved  by 
F.  Muntaner,  1796.  Etched  by  Gaujean  in  the 
'Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,'  vol.  xxi. 

Portrait  of  King  Philip  IV.  at  prayer. 

Portrait  of  Mariana  of  Austria  {second  Queen  of  Philip 
IV.)  at  prayer.    ( Companion  picture. ) 

Portrait  of  the  Poet  Luis  de  Gongora,  Engraved  by 
Carmona,  1770,  and  by  Bias  Amettler,  circa  1790. 

View  of  the  Queen's  Walk  in  the  Park  at  Aranjuez.  A 
masterly  production.  Lithographed  by  P.  de 
Leopol. 

Portrait  of  Donna  Margarita  Maria  of  Austria.  Probably 

by  Mazo  del  Martinez. 
View  of  the  Lake  at  Buen  Eetiro. 
Portrait  [bust)  of  Queen  Isabella  de  Bourbon. 
A  Pretendiente  {Suitor  at  Court)  in  a  black  dress 

presenting  a  Memorial. 


108 


THE  WOKKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Madrid.   Mus.  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.   A  full-length.  In  hlach  armour 
and  gold,  a  lion  at  his  feet. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {aged  about  fifty).    In  black. 
Boar  Hunt  at  the  Pardo,     {A  copy  by  Goya  of  the 
National  Gallery  picture.)  (?) 
Madrid.   Museo  Portrait  of  the  Infanta  Doiia  Margarita. 
del  Tomento.    A  Magdalen. 
Royal  Palace.    The  Aguador  of  Seville.     {Replica  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington's  picture.) 
JSscorial.    Joseph's   Brethren  showing  his   Blood-stained  Coat. 
Tainted  at  Rome  in  1630. 
Gallery  of  M.    Portrait  of  a  Woman.    ( Three-quarter  length. )  In 
Salamanca.  black  ;  a  master-piece. 

Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  {Three-quarter  length.)  In 
pink;  in  his  right  hand  papers,  in  his  left  a  hat; 
very  fine. 

Portrait  of  the  Queen  of  Philip  IV.    {The  companion 

picture.) 
Portrait  of  a  Prelate  seated. 

Portrait  of  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.    {A  replied' of  the 

Museum  picture.)  (?) 
Portrait  (bust)  of  a  Cardinal. 
A  Saint  with  a  Palm-Lranch. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV. 's  Brother. 

A  Dwarf  seated  Heading.  {Replica  of  the  Museum 
picture. ) 

View  of  a  Public  Square  with  an  Equestrian  Statue  in 

the  centre. 
Portrait  of  a  Man  with  a  Fox  (?). 
A  Landscape  with  Figures  (?). 
Duke  of  Medina    \  p^^^.^^-^     ^  y^^^^^. 
Cell. ) 

Palace  of  Liria.    Portrait  of  Dona  Antonia,  daughter  of  Don  Luis  de  Haro. 

{Duke  of  Alba.)    Etched  by  Lalauze  in  the  '  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts.' 
Seville.  Two  Portraits. 

La  Merced.    Landscape  with  Figures. 
A  Nativity. 
A  Portrait  of  a  Man. 

Large  Picture  of  Still  Life.  {Copper pans,  melons,  Sc.) 
An  Artichoke  cut  for  Table. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


109 


Granada.  Arch-  David. 
bishop's  Palace.  Two  Fruit  Pieces, 

Valladolid. 
Museum. 


Valencia. 


Two  Figures  near  a  Pile  of  Vegetables. 


A  Portrait.    {Aji  Engraving  hy  Fortuny  in  Davillier's 
Work,  1874.) 


SWEDEN. 

Gripsholm.  TAe  Portrait  of  Philip  IV.,  in  Youth.  {Small:  Equestrian.) 

Palace.     {The  gift  of  Pimental,  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  to 
Queen  Christina. 


PICTUEES       PRIVATE  COLLECTIONS  IN  ENGLAND 
ATTEIBUTED  TO  VELAZQUEZ. 

EXHIBITED  AT  THE  BRITISH  INSTITUTION. 


1816    Figures  in  a  Landscape. 

Figures  on  Horseback  in  a  Landscape. 
Portrait  of  a  Cardinal. 

1818  Conspirators,  in  a  Landscape. 
Portrait  of  Adrian  Pulido  Pareja. 

1819  The  Prince  of  Asturias  on  Horse- 

back, attended  by  the  Duke 

of  Olivarez. 
The  Drummer. 
A  Boar  Hunt. 

1821  Don  Balthazar  Carlos. 
Portrait  of  an  Ecclesiastic. 

1822  A  Picnic  in  the  Country,  with  Por- 

traits of  Quevedo,  Solis,  and 

others. 
A  Spanish  Sportsman. 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain  on  horseback. 

1823  Original  Sketch  for  the  Great  Picture 

painted  in  1656  of  the  Infanta 
Margarita  Maria,  afterwards 
Empress,  with  Her  Suite. 


Owner. 

His  Excellency  E.  Bourke. 

Henry  Banks,  Esq. 
Countess  de  Grey. 
Duke  of  Bedford. 


Earl  Grosvenor. 
Hon.  H.  Clive,  M.P. 
Sir.  H.  Wellesley,  K.B. 

 Cox,  Esq. 

H.  Banks  (Junior),  Esq. 


Sir  H.  Wellesley. 
>> 

J.  P.  Miles,  Esq. 

Wm.  J.  Banks,  Esq.,  M.P. 


no 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ^ 


Date  of 
Exhibitiot 


1824 


1828 


1829 
1831 


1832 
1835 

1836 
1837 


1838 


Subject. 

The  Infante   Don    Balthazar  on 

Horseback. 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain. 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain. 
Donna  Maria,  Queen  of  Philip  IV, 

of  Spain. 
Philip  IV.  on  Horseback. 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain. 
The  Due  d'Olivarez. 
The  Brother  of  Philip  IV. 
Portrait  of  Pope  Innocent  X. 
Portrait  of  a  Spanish  Gentleman. 
The  Water-Seller. 
Portrait  of  Don  Balthazar. 
Portrait  of  Philip  IV. 
A  Lap-Dog. 
Study  of  Heads. 

The  Infante  Don  Balthazar  on  Horse- 
back, attended  by  the  Conde 
Duke  d'Olivarez. 

Spanish  Peasants. 

A  Concert  with  Family  Portraits. 

Landscapes  with  Figures  {two). 

Entrance  of  Philip  IV.  into 
Pampluna. 

A  Sportsman  with  Dogs. 

A  Man's  Portrait. 

Portrait  of  Cardinal  {small,  vjhole 

length). 
A  Marriage. 

Reception  of  a  Spanish  Prince  at  a 

Monastery. 
St.  Peter  Denying  Christ. 
An  Infant. 

Don  Luis  de  Haro  {Equestrian  Por- 
trait). 
A  Repasr. 

The  Infant  Son  of  Philip  IV.  at  the 


Owner. 


Dulwich  College. 

Lionel  Harvey,  Esq. 

His  Majesty  King  Geo.  IV. 


Henry  Rogers,  Esq. 
Col.  Hugh  Baillie. 


Duke  of  Wellington,  K.G. 


Wm.  Wells,  Esq. 
Dulwich  College. 
Count  St.  Martin  d'Aglie. 
Lord  Holland. 


Earl  Grosvenor. 
Mrs.  West. 

P.  Langford  Brooke,  Esq. 
Marquis  of  Lansdow^ne. 

J.  M.  Brackenbury,  Esq. 
Lord  Cowley. 


Sir  Abraham  Hume,  Bart. 

Duke  of  Sutherland. 
Viscount  Powerscourt. 
Marquis  of  Lansdowne. 

Lord  North  wick. 
Lord  Cowley. 

Samuel  Rogers,  Esq. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


Ill 


Date  of  Q,  ,  .  . 

Exhibition.  Subject. 

1838    The  Boar  Hunt. 

The  Brother  of  Philip  IV. 

A  Conference. 

Portrait  of  a  Natural  Son  of  the 
Duke  of  Olivarez  {from  the 
Altamira  Collection). 

A  Sketch. 

A  Spanish  General  in  Armour. 
African  Soldier. 

Stag  Hunt  near  a  Country  House  of 

the  King  of  Spain. 
Philip  IV.  on  Horseback. 
Portrait  of  Velasquez. 
Portrait  of  Adrian  Pareja. 
Spanish  Shepherd. 
Spanish  Peasant  Girl. 
A  Spanish  Officer. 
A  Spanish  Lady. 
A  Legendary  Subject. 
Christ  at  the  Pillar. 


1839 


1840 


1843 
1846 
1850 

1851 
1852 


Owner. 
Lord  Cowley. 
Sir  R.  Price,  Bart.,  M.P. 
Duke  of  Sutherland. 


Ld.  Francis  Egerton,  M.  P. 
Lord  Cowley. 
Sir  Thos.  Baring,  Bart. 
R.  Hart  Davis,  Esq. 


Lord  Ashburton. 
Thos.  Hamlet,  Esq. 
Ld.  Francis  Egerton, 
Duke  of  Bedford. 
Earl  of  Yarborouffh. 


R.  S.  Holford,  Esq. 
Duke  of  Devonshire, 
J,  Whatman,  Esq. 
S.  Lumley,  Esq. 


M.P. 


K.G. 


EXHIBITED  AT  THE  MANCHESTER  ART  TREASURES 
EXHIBITION,  1857. 


Numrr'  Subject.  Owner. 

621    A  Miracle  by  St,  Anthony  of  Padua.  J.  Whatman,  Esq. 

624  Figures  in  a  Landscape.  From  the  Collec- 

tion of  the  Hon.  General  Meade, 

Consul-General  at  Madrid.  W.  Stirling,  Esq. 

625  Figures  in  a  Landscape.    Ditto.  ,, 

626  The  Inftmte  Don  Balthazar  Carlos.  Col.  Hugh  Baillie. 
628    Queen  Mariana  of  Austria.  ,, 

737  Portrait  of  the  Count  Duke  Olivarez.  ,, 
779  Philip  IV.  in  Shooting  Dress.  ,, 
785    The  Cardinal  Infant  Don  Ferdinand  of 

Austria  in  Shooting  Dress.  ,, 

627  Shepherds  Crowned,  Leading  a  Bull.  Lady  Dunmore. 


112 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Catalogue  ^  i  -^^-i- 

Number.  Subject. 

727  Portrait  of  Adrian  Pulido  Pareja. 

728  Philip  IV.  of  Spain. 
780    A  ISTobleman. 

782    Henry  de  Halmale  attended  by  a  Serv- 
ant.  From  the  Purvis  Collection. 

786    Portrait  of  a  Young  Lady.     From  the 
King  of  Holland' s  Collection. 

789    Portrait  {Equestrian)  of  Count  Duke  Oli- 
varez.    From  the  Purvis  Collection. 

795    St.  John.    From  the  Standish  Collection. 

804    The  Alcalde  Ronquilla  {full  length). 

889    A  Cardinal. 

987    A  Large  Landscape, 
lot  Full-length  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don 

Balthazar  {in  long  dress). 
lit  Equestrian  Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don 

Balthazar  in  the  Tennis  Court. 
12t  A  Lady  with  a  Fan. 

13t  A  Male  Portrait  (of  Don  Balthazar)  in 
black  and  silver.  From  the  collection 
of  Mr.  Wells  of  Bedleaf  in  1848. 


Owner. 
Duke  of  Bedford. 
Henry  Farrer,  Esq. 
Earl  Stanhope. 

T.  P.  Smyth,  Esq. 

John  W.  Brett,  Esq. 

Earl  of  Elgin. 
R.  P.  Nichols,  Esq. 
George  A.  Hoskins,  Esq. 
W.  W.  Burdon,  Esq. 
Wynn  Ellis,  Esq. 

Marquis  of  Hertford. 


EXHIBITED  AT  THE  LEEDS  ART  TREASURES 
EXHIBITION,  1868. 


Catalogue  Snbieot 
Number.  bubject. 

315  A  Young  Spanish  Nobleman  (a  Boy  in 

Eed). 

316  Miracle  of  St.  Anthony. 

326    Portrait  of  the   Count   Duke  Olivarez 

{signed  'Diego  Yelazquez'). 
370    Portrait  of  Philip  lY.  of  Spain. 


Owner. 

Wynn  Ellis,  Esq. 
J.  Whatman,  Esq. 

Earl  Stanhope. 


t  In  Saloon  H.,  devoted  entirely  to  the  Hertford  Collection.  These 
four  and  four  others  were  exhibited  by  Sir  Richard  Wallace  at  Bethnal 
Green  in  1874. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


113 


Catalogue  Subiect 
Number.  buoject. 

Owner. 

333 

Portrait  of  a  Man. 

Earl  of  Clarendon. 

336 

Sleeping  Peasant  Boy. 

E.  A.  Leatham,  Esq. 

354 

Portrait  of  a  Cardinal. 

5) 

337 

A  Spanish  Lady. 

Sir  W.  Stirling-Max- 

well, Bart. 

338 

Portrait  of  Don  Juan  of  Austria. 

J.  Banks  Stanhope, 

Esq. 

339 

A  Cavalier. 

Col.  the  Hon.  Chas. 

C.  S.  Vereker. 

341 

Head  of  a  Dog. 

Edmund  M.  Blood, 

Esq. 

420 

Portrait  of  the  Queen  of  Philip  IV.  of 

Spain. 

H.  M.  the  Queen. 

EXHIBITED  AT  THE  "  EXHIBITION  OF  THE  WORKS  OF 


Date  of 
Exhibition. 


THE  OLD  MASTERS. 


Subject. 


1870  Don  Balthazar  Carlos,  Prince  of  Asturias. 
Las  Meniiias. 

Equestrian  Portrait  of  Philip  IV. 
Portrait  of  the  Conde  Duque  de  Olivarez, 

1871  A  Spanish  Fete  :  deer-hunting. 
A  Portrait  Head. 

Portrait  of  a  Lady, 

1872  A  Spanish  Infanta. 
Portrait  of  the  Infante. 

1873  Signing  the  Marriage  Contract  between 

the  Infanta  Margarita  Maria  and  the 

Emperor  Leopold  (unfinished). 
A  Woman  making  an  Omelette. 
Portrait  of  Isabella,  first  wife  of  Philip 

IV.  (1623). 
Portrait   of  Mariana,   second  wife  of 

Philip  IV. 
Portrait  of  Juan  de  Pareja. 
Portrait  of  Don  Andrian  Pulido  Pareja. 


Owner. 

Marq.  of  Westminster. 
Mrs.  Bankes. 
Sir  William  Miles,  Bart. 
F.  C.  Ford,  Esq. 
Lord  Ashburton. 
Earl  of  Dudley. 

55 

Sir  R.  Wallace,  Bart. 


Sir  E.  Landseer,  R.A. 
Francis  Cook,  Esq. 

F.  C.  Ford,  Esq. 

55 

Earl  of  Radnor, 


114 


THE  WORKS  OF  VELAZQUEZ. 


Date  of 
Exhibition. 


Subject. 


187i 


1876 


1877 

1878 
1879 
1880 

1881 


Portrait  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain 
Portrait  of  the  Infante  Don  Balthazar 
Carlos. 

Portrait   of   Mariana,  second  wife  of 

Philip  IV. 
The  Virgin  in  Adoration. 
Portrait  of  a  White  Horse  of  the  Duque 

de  Olivarez. 
Portrait  of  a  Lady. 
Head  of  a  Spanish  Gentleman. 
Portrait  of  the  Duque  de  Olivarez. 
Portrait  of  the  Painter. 
Portrait  of  a  Spanish  Alcade. 
Study  of  Still  Life. 
Sketch  for  a  duel  in  the  Pardo. 
Portrait  of  Don  Francesco  de  Ribas. 
The  Flute  Player. 


Owner. 
H.  M.  the  Queen. 

Duke  of  Abercorn,  K.O. 

H.  B.  Brabazon,  Esq. 
Sir  W.  Miles,  Bart. 

Earl  of  El.ofin. 

D.  of  Devonshire,  K.G. 

J.  S.  O^^le,  Esq. 

M.  of  Landsdowne. 

Sir  John  Neeld,  Bart. 
R.  Cholmondeley,  Esq. 
Sir  "William  Gregory. 
J.  C.  Robinson,  Esq. 
Miss  Clara  Montalba, 


In  the  lists  of  Velazquez's  works  exhibited  at  the  British  Institu- 
tion, Manchester,  Leeds,  and  the  "Old  Masters"  at  Burlington  House,  the 
official  catalogues  have  been  strictly  adhered  to :  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
every  picture  classed  as  the  work  of  Velazquez  is  recognized  as  genuine  by 
the  critics  ;  for  examp"'e,  the  Royal  Academy  merely  catalogues  the  Avorks 
"under  the  names  given  to  Ihem  by  the  contributors,"  and  "can  accept 
no  responsibility  as  to  their  authenticity." 


115 


CHKONOLOGY  OF  VELAZQUEZ, 


:  Page 

1599     BORN  AT  SEVILLE   5 

1612  STUDIED  UNDER  HERRERA  EL  VIEJO    5 

1613  WITH  FRANCISCO  PACHECO    5 

1618     MARRIED  JUANA  PACHECO   4 

1623     SETTLED  IN  MADRID    9 

1623     APPOINTED  COURT  PAINTER    28 

1628  VISITED  BY  RUBENS    34 

1629  FIRST  JOURNEY  TO  ITALY    41 

1631     RETURNED  TO  MADRID    48 

1634     MARRIAGE  OF  HIS  DAUGHTER  FRANCISCA    51 

1642     MEETING  OF  MURILLO  AND  VELAZQUEZ   55 

1648     SECOND  JOURNEY  TO  ITALY    59 

1651  RETURNED  TO  SPAIN    61 

1652  APPOINTED  "APOSENTADOR  MAYOR "    62 

1656   PAINTED  "las  meninas"    64 

1660     DIED  AT  MADRID,  AUGUST  6tH   91 

1660     HIS  WIFE  JUANA  DIED^  AUGUST  14tH   91 


INDEX. 


(The  Names  of  Paintings  are  printed  in  italics.) 


Adoratioyi  of  the  Shepherds.  75. 
Agiiador  de  Sevilla.  39. 
Alfaro.  65. 

Apollo  at  the  Forge  of  Vulcan.  47. 
"  Arte  de  la  Pintura."    22,  62. 

Balthasar   Carlos,  Portraits  of  the 

Prince.  48,  50. 
Barberini,  Cardinal.  44. 
Bermudez,  Cean.    55,  59. 
Buckingham,  The  Duke  of.  35. 

Carducho,  Vincencio.    31,  46. 
Caxes,  Eugenio.  31. 
Charles  1.  (of  England).    14,  24. 
Crucijixion,  The.  58. 

Descent  from  the  Cross.  F.  Pacheco.  7. 

Expulsion  of  the  Moors,  The.  30. 

Family  of  Velazquez.  51. 
Fonseca,  Don  Juan  de.    6,  21. 
Ford,  Richard.    26,  30,  47,  69,  76. 
Francisca  Velazquez.  51. 
Fuensalida,  Gaspar  de.  91. 

Herrera  el  Viejo.    5,  68. 

Innocent  X,  Portraits  of.    60,  61. 
Isabel  de  Bourbon.    9,  13. 
Island  of  Pheasants,  The.  81. 

Jacob  with  Joseph's  Coat.  47. 
Juana,  wife  of  Velazquez.    4,  29,  91. 

Las  Hilanderas.    63,  73. 
Las  Meninas.    50,  64. 
Lope  de  Vega.  17. 
Los  Borrachos.    39,  75. 

Madrazo,  Don  Jose  de.  30. 


Marriage  Pageant  of  Maria  Teresa.  78. 
Martinez,  Jusepe.  57. 
Mazo,  Juan  de.    51,  81. 
Monterey,  Conde  de.  45. 
Murillo  meets  Velazquez.  55. 

Nardi,  Angelo.  31. 
Nieto,  Don  Joseph.    62,  86. 

Olivarez,  Duke  of.    6,  15,  48,  56. 

Pacheco,  Francisco.    3,  30,  64. 
Pareja,  Juan  de.  44. 
Payments  to  Velazquez.  32. 
Pedro  de  Altamira,  Portrait  of.  51. 
Philip  I Y.  of  Spain.  9. 
„       „    Portraits  of    26,  29. 

Ptunion  dArtistes.   50,  72. 
Rome,  Velazquez  at.  44. 
Rubens  :  his  visit  to  Spain.  33. 

Sacchetti,  Cardinal.  43. 
School,  and  followers  of  Velazquez. 
65. 

Spinola,  The  Marquess.  41. 

,,       Portrait  of.  58. 
Stirling-Maxwell,  Sir  W.    49,  57,  66. 
Surrender  of  Breda.,  The.  50. 

Tapestrij  Weavers,  The.    63,  73. 
Topers,  The.    39,  75. 

Van  der  Meulen.  33. 

Van  de  Veldes,  The.  33. 

Van  Dyck.  33. 

Velazquez.,  Portraits  of.    47,  49. 

Venice,  Velazquez's  stay  at.  41. 

Water-carrier  of  Seville,  The.  39. 

Zarco  del  Valle,  Don.  92. 


London:  r.  clay,  sons,  and  taylor,  printers. 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


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